Unbroken
by BittyAB18
Summary: Beca Mitchell has several secrets at the start of her freshman year at Barden. She has a step-sister who drives her nuts, she only has two friends, and, she has a three year old daughter. She meets a guy who might be perfect for her, but then her ex comes back in the picture, wanting to be involved in their lives. Now, Beca is more confused than ever. Who should she choose? Hiatus!
1. Chapter 1

**Unbroken**

**Chapter 1**

**A **_**Pitch Perfect**_** Story**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything familiar.**

**Author's Note: I should not be starting yet another story, but I can't get this story idea out of my head, so here it is. I still have no idea where exactly I want to go with this, but hopefully it will come to me as I start writing it. Sorry if this seems directionless for that reason. This is AU.**

* * *

It was a Tuesday afternoon, and one of the rare times that Beca Mitchell didn't have work and didn't need to have someone babysit for her. She walked down the hallway of the English building where her father's office was housed, holding onto the chubby hand of her two and a half year old daughter, Melody. They were walking slowly, because Mel was still unsteady on her feet, but she still wanted to be independent. It was early in May, and she had business to discuss with her father.

"Are you excited to go see Grandpa?" She asked the little girl beside her, who was grinning like crazy. Her brown hair was a mess of wavy knots that Beca could never seem to brush out, and it was in complete disarray. Oddly enough, it greatly resembled Beca's own hair, which was in dire need of a new haircut. The little girl had a cute button nose, her father's rounded chin, chubby cheeks, and her mother's expressive eyes. Every time Beca looked at Mel, her heart swelled with love and happiness. No matter how hard it was to be mom—especially such a young mom—she knew that she had made the right choice to keep her baby when she found out that she was pregnant.

"I is hungry, Mommy. I wants lunch, pwease!" Mel said, tugging on Beca's hand.

"We can eat lunch after Mommy talks to Grandpa, okay?"

"No! I wants lunch now!" Mel said, stopping dead in her tracks, yanking on Beca's hand. Beca stopped immediately and took a deep breath. Mel was at an age where her favorite word was no and she expected to always get her way. Beca hated disappointing her daughter, but she knew that she had to start nipping this in the bud before Mel became a spoiled little princess like someone else that Beca knew. She crouched down in front of Mel, holding on to the squirming little girl's chin so that she looked Beca in the eyes.

"Melody Charlotte Mitchell, I know that you are feeling hungry and you want to eat your lunch now. But, right now, Mommy needs to talk to Grandpa about something. It won't take very long, I promise. Then, you and I can go to get some lunch. Maybe Grandpa will be able to come if he doesn't have to teach a class soon. We will get lunch soon, but you need to wait a little longer, okay?" Melody pouted, and it took everything in Beca's power not to laugh in the little girl's face. She didn't want to hurt Mel's feelings, because she was so serious right now.

"Fine." Melody muttered. "Grandpa better come." Beca stood up, taking Mel's hand in hers again and smiled to herself. She thought that she handled that pretty well, and Melody was surprisingly accepting to it. Beca had read plenty of child development books over the years since she found out she was pregnant, and she always tried her hardest not to devalue Mel's feelings so that it didn't potentially screw her up later.

They walked the rest of the way down the hallway, and Beca knocked on the door. "Come in," she heard her dad call out.

"Grandpa!" Mel yelled as Beca opened the door, and the little girl raced into the room towards Daniel Mitchell.

"Hey, Minnie Mouse!" He said, pulling her up and into his arms. "It is so good to see you, little one." Daniel said, hugging the little girl close.

"I missed you! I is hungry! Want lunch?" Beca laughed, seeing that the little girl's priorities were still firmly on eating.

"I would love to get lunch, but I have a meeting with one of my students in a half hour, so I can't get lunch now. What about afterwards? It shouldn't take longer than a half an hour with him?" He said, looking up at Beca.

"I don't think that she can hold out that long. I just barely talked her out of having a temper tantrum a few moments ago." Daniel nodded, pressing a kiss to the little girl's head. He reached into one of the bottom drawers of his desk, pulling out a small bag of Goldfish and a napkin. He grabbed the alcohol-free hand sanitizer from the top of his desk and squirted a tiny bit into both his hands and Mel's. "This will tide you over until Mommy can get you some lunch, Minnie Mouse." He began to rub his hands together, and Melody followed suit. After he made sure both their hands were dry, he pulled a small handful of goldfish out of the bag and placed them on the napkin. Mel dug into them immediately, shoving several into her mouth.

"Slow down. One at a time, please!" Beca said quickly. She dropped into the chair in front of her dad's desk, dropping her oversized purse on the ground beside her.

"So, what are you two doing here? Not that I don't love the surprise."

"Can we talk about something important?"

"Uh-oh. I don't like that. Are you pregnant again? Is Shane trying to get custody of Mel? What's going on?" Beca's eyes widened when she saw the panic on her dad's face and heard it in his voice.

"No! God, no! Dad, you need to have sex to get pregnant, unless I am the next Virgin Mary. Well, you know what I mean…" She said, rolling her eyes. "You know that I haven't been dating anyone, let alone sleeping with anyone. All I do is work, do homework, and take care of Mel." Beca rolled her eyes. "With graduation coming up, I wanted to talk to you about something really serious. I think it is time that Mel and I get our own place."

"Wait, what? Why do you want to move out?"

"I am almost nineteen, Dad. Mel is going to be three, and she is going to be in preschool next year being taught by the future early childhood and elementary school teachers of Georgia while I am in classes or working. I really think that maybe I should get my own place. She needs to be prepared for when I graduate from school, and we move to LA. I can't have her freaking out when she is seven, because she and Mommy are moving out of Grandpa and Grandma's house."

"Okay, I understand in theory why you want to get your own place, but do you really think that you can afford to go to school full-time, work, take care of Mel, and still be able to afford to live on your own? I know you have a lot of money in the bank, but I don't think you will have enough to be able to afford a studio or a one-bedroom apartment, let alone a two-bedroom."

"I am shooting for a one-bedroom. I would do the pullout couch in the living room, and Mel could have the bedroom." Beca said, running a hand through her hair. "As for not being able to afford it, I go to college for free, thanks to you and Sheila. I have had free child care for the last two and a half years, so I have been able to save up a nice amount of money from the part-time job that I have had. I was hoping to switch to an on-campus job, which would cut down on the cost of gas and taxes that would be taken out of my paycheck. Hopefully, I can get an apartment close to the campus, like our house is, so that I could walk there most of the time with Mel. I have given it a lot of thought. I think that I need a little more freedom. I am going to start at Barden in the fall, so I want to be fully moved in and settled by the time the classes start. I don't want Mel to have too much change at once."

"Okay, I get that you need freedom." Daniel said, running a hand through Mel's hair. "What if we ease into this? There is that open space that we have been using above the garage as storage—it is huge, since it is a two-door garage. What if we made that into a little apartment for you and Mel? This way, you can still live with Sheila and me rent-free and save up more money for when you actually get an apartment or for moving to LA. This would be your own place, so you could still get the freedom you need as a young adult and a mom." Beca thought about it for a moment.

"That would be great, but I don't know how I feel about Mel on those stairs. I get nervous about the idea of her running out the door and tumbling right down those steps to the ground."

"Right, that makes sense." Daniel chewed on his bottom lip as he thought for a moment. "What about the guest house?" Beca smiled at the thought, not even realizing that it was perfect. Daniel and Sheila Mitchell had bent over backwards for Beca when she found out she was pregnant when she was fifteen; her mom kicked her out when she was barely twelve weeks pregnant. They immediately moved her into her their home, and spent the next six months fixing up the guest house for Beca's step-sister to move and then turned her old room into Mel's nursery. After Aubrey finished her freshman year, she and her best friend, Chloe, moved into an apartment on campus, so the guest house had been empty for the last two years. It had its own kitchenette, one bedroom, and a library that could easily be turned into a small bedroom for Mel. It would be just big enough for them to get the start of the separation that they need without breaking Beca's bank account completely.

"That's perfect, Dad. Thank you. I can't wait to start decorating it." Most of the furniture had been removed when Aubrey moved out to get her place with Chloe. While all of the bedroom stuff would be moved from the main house to the guest house, they still need furniture for the living room and items for the kitchen and bathroom.

"No problem, Beca. I have to admit I am feeling a little selfish by suggesting it. I don't want you two to go yet." Beca nodded her head.

"I didn't really want to go yet, either. I just…I want to slowly get her ready, you know?"

"Yeah, it would be really hard for her to make the move when she is seven and so used to living in the same house with us. This way, she will be used to living in a separate home, but will need to transition from not seeing us all of the time."

"That being said, I am going to have to try to make it so that she doesn't go into the old house all of the time. Does that make sense? Like, she can see you guys and have sleepovers and such, but she isn't going to be in that house every day."

"I get it."

* * *

Beca dropped off Mel at the preschool on the day of the activities fair. She thought it would be good to get her used to the place where she was going to spend so much time. She was only going to leave her there for a few hours today, to meet the teachers she will be working with, all junior and senior early education majors. She decided to walk around the activities fair a little to get an idea about any on campus jobs available. Plus, she wanted to say hello to the few people she knew on campus. She didn't have too many friends, because not to many people wanted to be friends with the teen mom at her high school. She didn't talk to her old friends from Pittsburg, where she had grown up and lived with her mom after her dad had moved to Georgia. She grinned when she came across a sign taped to a wall that read the Barden Treblemakers. There were a crowd of guys standing around it, chatting lazily before one of the guys suddenly counted off. The guys began singing, and Beca cocked an eyebrow in amusement. She searched the faces, looking for one in particular. Before she found him, her eyes landed on a guy with dark, short hair and dark eyes. He grinned obnoxiously as he sang his solo, obviously singing to her by the way he was wagging his eyebrows at her. She rolled her eyes, dragging her attention away from him, searching the faces. Finally, they settled on the face of the tall, slender Indian boy who she had known for nearly the last three years. She waved at him, walking around the crowd of people that had gathered to get closer to the group.

They finished the song, and she felt someone staring at her. She glanced around, finding the stares coming from the boy who had been singing to her before. He nodded in hello, holding his arms out, as if he was welcoming her to come to him. She rolled her eyes again and turned her attention to the other guy she had been looking for originally. He raced over to her, throwing his arms around her waist and picking her up to spin her around in a circle. "Donald!" She shrieked, grabbing tight to his shoulders. He dropped her to the ground again, grinning at her.

"Hello, freshmeat!" She laughed, her head falling back. "Where's Minnie?" He asked, crossing his arms. "I would love to see my little mouse."

"She is visiting with the preschool, getting a feel for it for a few hours. I am here to cordially invite you to a little gathering at my new, little place tonight."

"Oh, how little of a gathering and how little of a new place?" Donald asked. "Can I bring along some friends?"

"It is probably going to be you, Aubrey, Chloe, and maybe Chloe's boyfriend, Evan. That is the extent of my little gathering." She said, shrugging her shoulders. She didn't exactly have that many friends. Well, Aubrey wasn't really her friend at all, but Donald was and Chloe was, and Mel loved Aubrey, so she was usually there by default. Aubrey was a spoiled princess, so they didn't get along much.

"Hahaha, that sounds like a really winner of a gathering." Donald joked. "You really need to make friends this year. You know, if you would just join the Bellas…" Beca slammed her hand over Donald's lips.

"Don't you dare finish that sentence, Donald Bandari." She shook her head. "I would rather be murdered. And, I think Aubrey would happily kill me and risk going to jail before she would let me into the Bellas."

"Well, you like to drive Aubrey crazy, and when she is crazy, the Bellas suffer, which makes things even better for the Trebles. Plus, she works off all of that crazy in the best ways…in the bedroom." She grimaced, thinking about her step-sister and her boyfriend doing dirty things with each other.

"She is always crazy, Donald. As long as you work out that craziness nowhere near my daughter, then have at it," she said. "Well, I better get going before your teammates think you are cheating on Aubrey." She said, glancing around. She noticed that the guy who had been watching her earlier had disappeared.

"I will see you tonight. What time? Where?"

"It isn't that big of a deal. I moved into the guest house. We made up Aubrey's old library into Mel's room. It isn't that big of a deal, though."

"It is still exciting. I am looking forward to tonight though."

"See you at seven tonight? That will give us an hour of Mel time and then she is in bed for the night."

"And, I take it I am bringing the alcohol?"

"It is the only way that I can handle Aubrey." She said, backing away from him. "Speaking of my darling step-sister, I am off to find her. See you later, sir."

Beca waved, walking away. She came across a table relating to paid internships on campus. One of the internships was being offered at the campus radio station. It would be good experience and a way to get her mixes heard. It would certainly be better experience for her than working at a record store. Plus, the job would be on campus, and she could pick up Mel on the way home in the evenings. Or, if she had to work a later shift, then her dad, Sheila, Aubrey, Donald, or Chloe could pick her up. As she was signing up, she heard a groan of exasperation. She glanced up to see a redhead with big boobs looking at her with distaste. She looked down at the paperwork that Beca was filling out for the radio station.

"Honey, you think that because you are all alternative you are going to get a job at the radio station and play a bunch of crappy songs on the radio, right? Well, sorry to burst your bubble princess, but that isn't how it works. You are our bitch until someone important decides you can do something a little more than stacking CDs. Think you could handle that, sweetheart?" She asked in a breathy voice. Beca cocked an eyebrow at her.

"Hey, I know you." She heard someone say behind her.

"Oh, hi, Jesse!" The redhead said, twisting a lock around her hair. She pressed her boobs out, trying to draw attention to him.

"No, you don't." Beca said, ignoring the redheaded bitch and rolling her eyes at the guy beside her.

"Totally do."

"Totally do not."

"I totally do know you. I sang to you. Just a few minutes ago. M'name's Jesse." He held a hand out to her. She stared at for a moment, deciding whether or not she wanted to accept his handshake. He was grinning at her, like he was so sure of himself. She rolled her eyes. "You know it is customary to take the hand that is extended to you and to say your name when someone introduces themselves to you. So, I will start again. My name is Jesse. Jesse Swanson, and you are?" She sighed, deciding whether it would be easier to just tell him her name or if that would only make things worse for her. He just continued to smile at her.

"Beca." She said finally, shaking his hand quickly.

"Just Beca?" He asked, lip jutting slightly like he was wounded. "I was hoping to make a new Facebook friend."

"I'm not on Facebook," Beca replied. It was true, because she really didn't need to have people "friending" her when they weren't really her friends.

"Not on Facebook? What's your deal?" Jesse asked, crossing his arms and staring at Beca, who finished off the last of the paperwork and held it out to the redhead who was looking at them like she was watching a car accident, fascinated and horrified at once. "Are you one of those girls who are secretly pretty once you remove the scary ear spike and glasses?"

"I don't wear glasses." She told him, rolling her eyes.

"Well, then you are halfway there." He said with a smirk on his face.

"You are a real charmer, aren't you?" She asked him, not daring to look at him in fear that she would return his smile

"I've been told as much." He shrugged. "So, where are you planning on interning?"

"She thinks that she is a good fit at the radio station. But, Luke isn't going to take on another intern, especially not a paid intern." The girl said in her annoying voice that Beca really hated.

"Really? You want to work at the radio station? I warn you now. There is a lot of CD stacking in your future if you were to get a job there. And lunch fetching. Luke is a jackass, too."

"I worked at a record store, so I have stacked plenty of CDs. Oh, and I have fetched a lot of lunch in my lifetime." Beca said, turning to face Jesse. That was an understatement, considering that she had a daughter who was nearly three years old. "Plus, I have endured quite a few jackasses in my past, as well. If you were to look up the definition of jackass in the dictionary, you would see a picture of my ex-boyfriend." She told him seriously. Shane had dropped Beca the instant she told him that she was pregnant. He wanted nothing to do with the baby who turned out to be quite possibly the most perfect little girl in the world, in Beca's opinion, but she was biased.

"Jesse, so I was thinking that you and I could get dinner tonight. You know, to celebrate the start of a new school year?" The redhead tried again to engage him.

"Yeah, Jesse, you two should really celebrate the start of the new school year. You know, get reacquainted with your good friend here." Beca said, cocking an eyebrow at him. "She's obviously missed you so much." His jaw ticked slightly, and he glanced at the redhead.

"I'm sorry, Trish. I would love to get dinner tonight, but I feel it is my duty as a sophomore here at Barden to show around our new freshman, Beca. Help you get the lay of the land." He said as an explanation. Trish huffed loudly in annoyance and stormed off. Beca laughed, shaking her head.

"I might be a freshman, but I don't need anyone to show me around Barden. I have practically lived at this campus for the past four years." She smiled at him. "I could probably show you to the parts of campus you have never even been. Besides, I have plans tonight. I am having a couple of friends over to my place tonight. To celebrate my new digs."

"What dorm? I will have to stop by."

"I don't live in a dorm."

"Oh, an apartment, huh?"

"Something like that." Beca rolled her eyes. "Well, I better get going. I have places to be. People to see."

"You, Miss Mysterious, are being no fun." He pouted. "I will just ask Donald to bring me along tonight." She furrowed her brow. "I saw you two talking. You know he has a girlfriend, right?"

"Yes, I do know that. He has been one of my closest friends for nearly three years now. For as long as he has been dating his girlfriend. I would never break them up. Aubrey is only barely sane when she is with Donald, so why would I want to put myself through the hell that is a devastated Aubrey when I already have to deal with what Satan has created as happy Aubrey?"

"Aubrey isn't that bad."

"You don't know her like I do."

"Well, I know Aubrey pretty well, since she practically lives at the Trebles' house." What was this, a competition? Beca scoffed.

"You guys have a house? Why the hell don't the Bellas have a house?"

"Because we actually win national championships," Jesse said smugly.

"You have been in the Trebles for five minutes, and you already are acting like you are God's gift to them. The Bellas would kill it if it weren't for the fact that those bitches were obsessed with songs from the eighties and shit. I am just hoping like hell that Aubrey learns to take suggestions unlike those other bitches did. I mean, Aubrey actually has some good taste in music, unlike those other girls. Well, those songs aren't that bad, but they are beyond boring if they aren't layered with songs from other genres and decades." She ranted, thinking about how crazy the Bellas made Aubrey and Chloe. She glanced up at Jesse, who was staring at her in shock. "What?!"

"I don't think you took a breath once during all of that." Beca grimaced. "Sounds like you like Aubrey a lot more than you let on."

"I love her, but I don't like her. There is a difference, Swanson." She glanced at the time on her cell phone. It was almost time for lunch, and she needed to pick up Mel from the preschool. She still had to stop by the Bellas' table to extend an invitation to Chloe and Aubrey to come by the guest house that night.

"It isn't fair that you know my last name, and I don't know yours." He pouted.

"It's part of the fun, right?"

"I will just ask Donald."

"Donald wouldn't dream of telling you."

"Oh, yeah?"

"He loves me more."

"He does not."

"Does, too."

"Does not."

"Does, too!"

"Let's call him, and we will see who he answers." Jesse said, pulling out his cell phone. Beca rolled her eyes.

"Fine, get the number ready, because he is on my speed-dial. He is number six on my speed-dial."

"So, he is the sixth most important person in your life?"

"Fifth. Stupid iPhone makes my voicemail number one." Jesse laughed, shaking his head at her.

"What does it take to be someone on your speed-dial?" Beca stared at him for a moment.

"You have to be someone I can rely on." She said quietly. "You have to be someone that I can trust with my whole world…with the…thing…that I love the most in the world." She decided to say thing, not because she was ashamed of having Mel, but because she didn't trust this guy she had known for all of five minutes.

"I can understand that. My most important thing would be my movie collection. You have to be pretty special to go anywhere near that." She smiled, but he just shook his head. "You think I am kidding, but I'm not. Like, I have hundreds of movies in boxes under my bed, organized by genres and in alphabetical order. I love movies. Like, they are my stress relievers. They are what I want to do with my life. I want to score movies. I want to move people with the music that are in them. My music." She bit her lip, eyebrows raised. If she didn't have Mel, she would feel that way about her music—her mixes were the way that she relaxed in the evenings after a long day of being a mom and having to deal with her family (Aubrey was a crazy bitch, but Beca wasn't lying when she said that she loved her step-sister; Sheila was annoying, but she was amazing with Mel, so Beca couldn't help but love her step-mother), and with having to balance homework with being a mom and working or going to school. She needed an outlet for the stress that she was under, and music certainly was the best outlet. She wanted to produce music. She wanted to help make music.

"I can understand that," she said, nodding her head. "My outlet is music, too. I want to make music in a different way. I want to produce music." She smiled, running a hand through her hair. "But, I really have to go." Jesse's head fell back as he groaned.

"Don't leave me!" He whined. "I think you are having fun with me. You don't want to leave me." She shook her head.

"I need to go meet up with Aubrey and Chloe and tell them about tonight. Then, I have a lunch date." He pressed a hand against his chest, looking wounded.

"You didn't deny that you were having fun with me, Miss Beca Whatever-Your-Last-Name-Is."

"I have to go."

"BECA!" She groaned when she recognized that voice. She turned around in time to catch one of the sweetest people in the world, who threw her arms tightly around Beca's neck. Beca squeezed Chloe back.

"Hey, Chloe," she said, breaking the hug. "I am happy to see you, too. How was Barbados? Climb in the shower with random strangers recently?" She looked at the redhead pointedly, who had stopped by with Aubrey to visit with Sheila and Daniel and to hang out by the pool, and while she went upstairs to change into her bathing suit, she had overheard Beca singing in the shower and decided to climb in with her to tell her how much she thought she had an amazing voice.

"Duh, baby, I only save that for you." She winked at Beca flirtatiously. "Barbados was stunning. Evan and I had sex on the beach every night. It was stellar."

"Gross," Beca muttered, shaking her head.

"Hey, Jesse; you know Beca?" She asked, smiling broadly at the shocked person standing beside her.

"No, we just met." Beca answered for him.

"Oh, Becs, he is the sweetest sophomore ever! Jesse is on the Trebles. If Evan wasn't perfect, I totally would go for him. I would totally be an awesome cougar. I bet he looks good naked. Have you given anymore thought to joining the Bellas, Becs? We could totally use your voice. And you mashups are beyond awesome. She is like the bee's knees." Chloe said, nodding her head excitedly. Beca almost got whiplash from the way Chloe could jump from talking about what Jesse looked like naked and sleeping with him to Beca joining the Bellas.

"Oh, really?" Jesse asked. "You sing?"

"Not really. Chloe just likes to surprise unsuspecting girls in the shower while they happen to be singing along with a song playing on an iPod." Beca said, shrugging her shoulders.

"Well, you were singing my lady jam, so I had to share with you how hot your voice was. She looks totally hot naked, by the way."

"Ew, seriously, stop telling me about what songs you masturbate to. It is beyond weird. Also, I would totally love it if you wouldn't talk about what I look like naked. Thanks."

"Please join the Bellas, Beca!"

"I don't exactly have room in my schedule for it, Chloe."

"Yes, you do!" She insisted. "Come on! It looks good on applications to say you are in a club. Plus, if we can get Aubrey to loosen the reigns a bit, you could probably come up with all of our set lists this year. You tell Aubrey's jackass boyfriend that we are going to the mat this year, Jesse. You have got to join, Beca!" Chloe said in a highly determined and passionate voice, making Beca laugh.

"As much fun as it would be to annoy the shit out of Aubrey, I don't know if I can do it."

"Think about it? Auditions are in three and half weeks. Saturday, September twenty-second. I hope that you will be there."

"Maybe." Beca told her.

"Good! That is all we can ask for, right?" Chloe asked, hugging Beca close again.

"By the by, you and Evan are invited to my new place tonight at seven. Bring alcohol."

"Oh, yeah! You moved! I am so excited to see how you decorated. I will definitely bring the alcohol. You have no idea how much I wish that you were twenty-one! It is beyond annoying that I have to wait two years until we can legally drink in public together. And, I plan on spending the night, in your bed. Be prepared, Mitchell."

"You can crash on the couch, or no dice. Pass the message along to Aubrey? This one has kept me from leaving to find you guys, and I am running late for my lunch date." She looked at Chloe pointedly, who seemed to understand that Beca wasn't revealing the identity of who she was meeting for lunch.

"Whatever. See you tonight, lovey! Kisses!" Chloe said, pressing kisses to both Beca's cheeks. "I gotta run. I am on table duty for the next hour with Fat Amy, and then I have practice this afternoon from three until five. We are figuring out which songs that we are going to be working with this year, and we are going to brainstorm ideas for our sister initiation night once the auditions are through."

"Wow…are you in an a cappella group, a sorority, or a cult? Fat Amy? Does she know you call her that?" Chloe giggled.

"You are adorable. Of course she knows we call her that. She asked that we call her that. Bye, guys." She wondered off, leaving Beca suddenly tired. She was always tired after talking to Chloe, who was outrageous and crazy most of the time.

"So, I learned two very valuable things about you from that exchange with Chloe. You are nineteen years old, which is how old I am. Yet, you are only a freshman. Which means that you either took a year off before going to school, or you were a year behind in school. The other thing that I learned tonight is that your last name is Mitchell." He smiled at her. "And, my intro English professor has the last name of Mitchell, and he talks about his daughter all of the time. Any relation?" She groaned.

"What exactly does he say about this daughter of his?" Beca said, wincing.

"That she is smart, funny, attending Barden this year." Jesse paused. "And, that she is beautiful…" He said quietly. She shook her head, blowing out a breath.

"I highly doubt that he said that I am beautiful."

"No, he doesn't, but it doesn't make it any less true."

"You aren't going to sweet talk me into an invitation to my very intimate gathering tonight. Sorry." Jesse pouted.

"He has the cutest pictures of you on his desk from when you were a baby." She knew those pictures. They were pictures of Mel. Daniel was beyond smitten with his granddaughter. Beca made him take down every picture of her that were in his office, but didn't deny him from displaying pictures of Mel.

"I really have to go. It was nice talking to you, Jesse."

"So, where is your place?" She groaned.

"Goodbye, Jesse." She walked away in the direction of the preschool.


	2. Chapter 2

**Unbroken**

**Chapter 2**

**A **_**Pitch Perfect**_** Story**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything familiar.**

**Song Recommendation: **_**Cups (You're Gonna Miss Me When I'm Gone)**_** by Anna Kendrick**

**Author's Note: I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter. I hope that it didn't seem too rushed to have Beca and Jesse flirting like they did, but Jesse is a big flirt, so I figured it would be slightly in character. Correction, the auditions were supposed to be September 21, not 22. **

* * *

Much to Trish's disappointment, Jesse pretty much guaranteed that Beca got a job at the radio station. The money she made there was only a few dollars more than her job at the record store had paid, but it was still extra money that went straight towards groceries, diapers for Mel, who was still figuring out potty training, or socks, because Mel never seemed to come home with both socks from preschool. Apparently, she liked to remove her socks and shoes during naptime, and the teachers were never able to find one of the socks. She was able to get great schedule at the radio station, so she either worked in the afternoons when she didn't have classes, or she would work the early dinner shifts. Mel would have dinner with Chloe and Aubrey, or Aubrey and Donald, or Daniel and Sheila, which made the little girl beyond happy. Thankfully, Luke (the station manager, who Beca had met on her first day) hadn't requested that she work late at night, but it was only a matter of time until someone made that request, and she would be forced to explain why it wasn't a possibility.

School went well, because thankfully, Barden had a major relating to music production, so Beca wasn't wasting her time with some bullshit music theory major or something that would do nothing for her when she finally moved to LA. Her classes—aside from the require general education classes like Math 101 or English 100—were interesting, so she didn't feel like killing herself while she sat on a hard chair in a super small desk that left barely any room for her pen, let alone her laptop or a pad of paper. Mel was pretty reasonable in the evenings when she didn't have work to let Mommy work on homework, because she would play contently with her dolls or watch Disney movies (the only movies Beca actually owned, despite the fact that her inner-feminist wanted to strangle the stupid animated princesses through the screen, because her kid liked them) before it was time for bed. Beca always made sure that she had at least an hour of snuggle time on the couch or in her bed while they talked about their days and what they were looking forward to the next day (usually, Beca would say that she would get to snuggle with Mel again, but Mel would talk about seeing a friend at preschool or getting a cupcake sticker for being a good girl during circle time). It was moments like that that made Beca feel like the luckiest person in the world, because Mel was truly amazing and smelled so good, even when she smelled like dirt or her dirty diaper or whatever food she spilled on herself that day.

"Hey, Beca, your phone is ringing." Jesse told her on the Saturday afternoon before Mel's birthday. She had taken the shift so that she could have Monday, September 10th off to spend with Mel. A girl only got a third birthday once in her life. She had left her phone on the desk that was likely to be riddled with STDs while she was stacking CDs on the shelf across the room. "No caller id, though." He called out to her. She finished with the last of the CDs and made her way across the room to glance at her room. By the time she made it there, the call had gone to voicemail. She opened her phone to look at the number, and she immediately recognized it. It was a number she didn't think that she would ever see again. She stared at her phone for a moment, before her phone started ringing again, the same number flashing up on the screen. "Are you going to answer that?"

The sound of Jesse's voice brought her back to reality. She denied the call and shook her head. "Nothing to answer." She said, turning back to her work.

"Beca, are you okay?" She nodded her head, focusing on the CDs that she was alphabetizing. "Do you need a break?" He laid a hand on her shoulder, making her jump.

"I'm fine." She pulled away from him, grabbing the stack of the CDs, not caring whether they were alphabetized or not. She started shoving them on random shelves.

"Beca, you're not okay. What's going on?" She shook her head, trying to clear it.

"It's nothing." She said, putting the last of the CDs on the shelf in front of her.

"It doesn't seem like it is nothing. You can talk to me. That's what friends are for? You talk to them when something is bothering you."

"We have known each other for not even two weeks, Jesse. I would hardly describe us as friends." She pressed a hand to her forehead.

"Wow…that's a tad bit harsh." Jesse said, crossing his arms. Beca groaned, because she is being hurtful towards him. All because that asshole just decided to call her. "I'm really trying here."

"I know. I'm sorry. I just…I'm sorry." She gave him a sad smile. "I am a mess right now."

"Yeah…You want to talk about it?"

"The person who was calling me…it was my mom." She whispered. "I haven't spoken to my mom in over three years. Um, three years and five months to be exact. I just never expected to see that number on my phone. I don't know why she would be calling me, because she told me that she never wanted to see me again when I moved out all those years ago."

"Oh, Beca. Come here." She froze when she felt his arms wrap around her, but she felt herself slowly return his hug. She felt the tears burn in her eyes, and she gripped at his back as she tried to hold them back. It didn't last long, and she began shaking as she sobbed against his shoulder, her face buried in his neck. "Beca, it's okay. I'm here." She pulled away from him abruptly, wiping at her cheeks.

"Wow. That shouldn't have happened. I gotta go. Wait, I'm supposed to be working."

She never showed weakness. Not since she found out that she was pregnant and that she had told her mom, who told her that she was disgusting and that she never wanted to see Beca again. Not since she told Shane that she was pregnant, and he said that there was no way that it was his and that he didn't want anything to do with the baby. Okay, so maybe that wasn't exactly the truth, because she had showed a lot of weakness when it came to Mel. Beca cried when she was having contractions (because that shit _HURTS_!). And, she cried when the doctors told her that the umbilical cord was wrapped around Mel's neck, and that they needed to do an emergency C-section to get Mel out safely. She cried when the doctors told her that Mel was too small to go home, because Beca was only thirty-six weeks into her pregnancy, so she had to spend several weeks in the NICU. And, she cried when she first got to hold her little baby when she was big enough and strong enough. She cried when the doctors finally told her that she could come home. Beca cried when Mel took her first step. She cried when Mel fell and split her lip on a block after she had her first few steps. She cried when Mel said her first word (Mama).

There were a lot of times when Beca cried because of something that happened with her daughter. But, she never let herself display weakness when it came to her mother or to Shane. She never showed any weakness when people would talk about her when they saw her hugely pregnant and walking down the street or when she would be out in public with Mel—when they assumed they knew everything about her just because she was a teen mother. She never showed weakness when she forgot to do homework or something like that because Mel got sick.

"Beca, you are allowed to get upset. You are allowed to cry." Jesse said, grabbing her hand, interlacing their fingers. "I'm here for you to cry on or talk to or to annoy the crap out of you." She smiled, rolling her eyes.

"You definitely succeed at that." She glanced down at their hands, and she tried to forget about the butterflies that holding his hand gave her. She couldn't let herself have this kind of feeling for someone. She wasn't a normal nineteen year old girl; she wasn't a normal freshman in college. She had a three year old daughter to worry about. She couldn't go out on dates with guys and party at frat houses. She couldn't do anything that a normal girl could do, because she had Mel. She wasn't pissed about that fact at all; she just accepted it as a fact. She was young, and she had a daughter, so it was a balancing act between being an adult and being a teenager that she was constantly figuring out. It wasn't like dating was completely out of the question for her, but she knew that dating when you have a kid is complicated. No nineteen year old guy wanted to be a dad, especially not to a kid that wasn't even his. Now was not the time to try and find Mel a daddy-figure. She couldn't put that kind of pressure on someone. It was bad enough to have to force her dad and Sheila into being grandparents. It was even worse that she expected Aubrey to go beyond the aunt role and to babysit Mel all of the time. And, Chloe and Donald? They had no relation to Beca or Mel beyond being Aubrey's best friend and boyfriend. Yet, they stepped up and took on their new roles like it was really no big deal. She wasn't going to force that onto Jesse.

Beca didn't want to admit the fact that she was afraid that he wouldn't want anything to do with her once he found out about Mel. She also didn't want to admit that there was an even larger part of her that is afraid that he would stick around once he found out about Mel. Beca was afraid to get close to someone again. It wasn't that she was scared of getting pregnant again. She wasn't stupid enough to make that mistake (not the Mel was a mistake, but the act of having unprotected sex was stupid). She was scared of the feelings that came with being in a relationship with some. She was afraid to letting someone in and letting someone get close to her. She was afraid of falling in love with someone and having him break her heart again. She let go of his hand, taking a step away from him.

"Beca," she shook her head, cutting him off.

"Thanks for comforting me." She smiled at him. "I should get back to work."

"Okay," he said, nodding his head.

* * *

Beca ignored the phone calls that came from her mother for the next week and a half. She never told her father or anyone else about the original calls. She also never told Jesse about the additional calls from her mother. She tried to ignore the way that Jesse would try to talk to her about what had happened that afternoon. He would also constantly try to make her laugh by making stupid jokes or to sing along with whatever song was being played on the radio, which was beyond embarrassing, considering that Trish or Luke or one of the other people that worked at the radio station was always around to glare at him or to laugh at her. Primarily, it was glaring in terms of Luke and Trish.

Beca also constantly heard about how she should join the Bellas from Chloe, Jesse, and Donald, despite the fact that the only one of them who had actually heard Beca's voice before was Chloe. She kept telling them over and over that she didn't want to join. One day, Aubrey overheard her telling Donald and Chloe when the four of them were hanging out at Aubrey and Chloe's apartment that she would rather go running through the quad in broad daylight naked then to audition for the Bellas. Aubrey freaked out, saying that she would rather the Bellas lose the first competition and have their season be over before it even started than to let Beca anywhere near her Bellas, which only made Beca pissed off. She told Aubrey that she would be beyond lucky to have Beca on the team and that she just might audition after all.

Beca was beyond shocked when she found herself rushing into the auditorium where the auditions were being held a few days later, with Mel clutched in her arms, late as always. She didn't intend on bringing Mel along, but Sheila's colleague got ill right before class from bad shrimp at a restaurant he had eaten at for lunch and he practically Linda Blair-ed all over the hallway, so Sheila had to deal with getting the students out of the building and to call maintenance, which meant that she couldn't take Mel that afternoon. Her dad was teaching, so he was out, and the three other people that Beca used as sitters were all in the very room where she was trying to be in. She figured that Donald was her best bet for babysitting, because the fact that she had a vagina rather than a penis between her legs made her unequipped for the Trebles. Once she determined that there were three girls left to audition and no boys, she texted Donald to come out into the hallway. She could hear the wails from some girl as she destroyed some Rihanna song.

"Hey, Beca, what's up? You are auditioning? I am so glad to hear it." She heard behind her. Beca twirled around her and looked gratefully at Donald.

"Ducky!" Mel screeched from the floor where she was playing with a Barbie doll.

"Oh, so…yeah…" Donald said shocked before he dropped to the floor and pulled Mel into a hug. "You better get in there quick and tell them you are auditioning. I will take care of Mel. Don't screw up your big chance, Becs. I really hope that you get into the Bellas. It will be fun to see Aubrey blow a gasket and get psyched out. For competition reasons, of course." He winked.

"You know if I do get on the Bellas, I will be hell bent on winning, right?" Beca laughed.

"Pssh, the Bellas will never beat the Trebles. No matter how good you are, you guys won't be able to beat the Bellas."

"Just wait and see. Minnie, give Mommy a good luck kiss. She is going to go sing a song."

"Good luck, Momma!" Mel called out from Donald's arms as Beca pressed a kiss to her forehead before disappearing backstage. "Ducky, can I hear Momma sing?"

"Sure thing, Mels." Donald told her, gathering up Mel's Barbie dolls from the floor and carrying her into the auditorium.

"Donald, where the hell did you disappear to? You missed the funniest shit ever!" Bumper called out to him.

"Dude, watch your language." He called back to them.

"Um, question. Why in the hell do you have a small white child in your arms?" Bumper called out, making everyone in the auditorium audience turn to look at him. The Trebles were seated a few rows behind the Bellas, who were in the front row as always. He saw Aubrey visibly pale from her seat, but Chloe squealed excitedly.

"Justin, Tommy! We have another girl auditioning." She called out as she jumped up from her seat to the two seniors on stage who were going on and on about how the people who auditioned that day were horrible and had musically killed Rihanna and then ate her with their horrendous renditions of her song.

"Look, Mel. It's Auntie Aubrey and Auntie Chloe." Donald told her, pointing to them in the front row.

"Auntie Aubrey! Auntie Chloe!" Mel called excitedly, waving. "Put me down, Ducky! I want to see them!" She wiggled in his arms, and Donald put her down, watching her as she ran to his girlfriend and her best friend.

Aubrey dropped to the floor and pulled Mel into her arms. "Hey, Minnie!" She pressed a kiss to the top of the little girl's head. "Your Momma is lucky I love her so much, or I would kill her right now!" She pouted. "But, your Uncle Donald isn't going to be so lucky." She growled in his direction. "Donald, get your butt over here right now!"

"I think I will sit right back here for my own protection!" He said, holding his hands in the air.

"Look, Momma!" Mel shrieked pointing to the stage. Beca was practically drug out onto the stage by Chloe, who was chattering about how amazing she was going to be. Beca glanced down into the audience when she heard Mel call her name and groaned.

"Donald, you weren't supposed to bring her in here!" She muttered. "Hi, Melody. You wanna hear Mommy sing a song?"

"Yeah!" The little girl clapped her hands excitedly. Beca glanced out at all of the shocked faces in the crowd. The face she was afraid to look at for long was Jesse's.

"Um, hi, everyone. I'm Beca Mitchell." She waved awkwardly. "I didn't know we had to prepare that song…" She said, running a hand through her hair.

"That's okay. Sing whatever you want, Beca!" Chloe told her from where she had rejoined the rest of the Bellas. "Might I suggest _Titanium_?" The redhead winked.

"Sorry, Chloe, but I am not going to sing that song now, or else you might decide to strip naked right here and now." She said, dropping to the floor in front of Aubrey and Mel. "May I?" She pointed to the cup on the desk in front of them. Mel squirmed, trying to drop from Aubrey's arms.

"I wanna get on stage with Momma!" She whined. Beca shrugged. Aubrey walked over to the stage, lifting Mel up so that the little girl could scramble across the floor next to Beca. She dropped beside Beca and crossed her legs in front of her. She clapped her hands as Beca began hitting the cup on the stage in a rhythm.

"_I've got my ticket for long way 'round  
Two bottles of whiskey for the way  
And I sure would like some sweet company  
and I'm leaving tomorrow, what'dya say?_

"When I'm gone; when I'm gone  
You're gonna miss me when I'm gone  
You're gonna miss me by my hair  
You're gonna miss me everywhere  
And I know you're gonna miss me when I'm gone."

Mel clapped her hands and danced around from her seat. Beca smiled, laughing as she continued the rhythm. She shook her head as she began the next verse.

"I've got my ticket for the long way 'round  
The one with the prettiest view  
It's got mountains; it's got rivers  
It's got sights to give you shivers  
But it sure would be prettier with you

"When I'm gone; when I'm gone  
You're gonna miss me when I'm gone  
You're gonna miss me by my walk  
You're gonna miss me by my talk  
You're gonna miss me when I'm gone."

Beca finished the rhythm with the cup. Mel squealed excitedly and threw herself into Beca's lap.

"Momma! You sing so pretty!" Mel told her, pressing a big kiss to her cheek. Beca blushed, pulling Mel into her arms and standing up carefully. She made her way down the stairs to the Bellas and Donald, who had climbed over the seat to sit beside Aubrey after Mel had climbed on stage with her.

"Holy crap, Becs! I would have never suggested that you join the Bellas if I knew you sung like that! With your mixes and that voice, you guys are gonna give us a run for our money!" He said, shaking his head. "Minnie, why didn't you tell Ducky how awesome a singer Mommy is?"

"I tried to tell you!" Mel told him seriously, making everyone laugh. The Bellas all surrounded Beca, cooing about how cute Mel was.

"Oh, my God! Look at how tiny she is! I could just eat her up!" A girl with long brown hair and big boobs said.

"She is way cuter than all of the people back in Tasmania combined, and she probably has as many teeth as all of them combined, too." A large blonde with an Australian voice said. A slender Asian girl whispered something that Beca couldn't make out, but she heard the words "baby" and "cry," which made Beca instantly tighten her hold on Mel for some reason.

"Whoa! Guys, back up and give them some room." Chloe said, pushing the girls back.

"Beca, I could kill you for auditioning." Aubrey muttered, rolling her eyes. "But, you were great."

"Thanks, Aubrey." She smiled at her step-sister. "You are just saying that so that I don't tell Dad and Sheila that you were mean to me." Aubrey rolled her eyes.

"You aren't twelve anymore, Beca. You can't threaten to tattle on me to our parents anymore."

"Wait?! You two are related?" The brunette asked, shocked.

"We are step-sisters." Beca said. "Unfortunately."

"Please! Where would you be if it weren't for Daniel marrying my mom?" Aubrey said, rolling her eyes. "Do you honestly think that you could have made it through high school, saved up money, or gotten into Barden if it weren't for me, my mom, Chloe, or Donald?"

"Hey, I never said that I wasn't appreciative of everything you guys did for me when I had a baby at sixteen, but you have to admit that you and I don't like each other much. I love you, Aubs, but I hate your guts most of the time."

"I hate you, too, little sis." Aubrey said, rolling her eyes. "Alright, so I think we all know you are going to be voted into the Bellas. But, I am telling you right now, Beca Mitchell, I will do horrible things to you if you screw up my Bellas."

"Auntie Aubrey, stop being mean to my mommy." Mel pouted. "It isn't nice!

"I'm sorry, Mels!" Aubrey said, leaning over and pressing a kiss to the little girl's head. "You are right. It isn't nice to be mean to someone." Everyone laughed at how cute Mel was. Beca glanced up to see that Jesse was staring at her before he shook his head and threw his school bag over his shoulder. He pushed out of the row and down the aisle, starting for the door. Beca quickly passed Mel off to Aubrey.

"I will be right back." She rushed down the aisle, following Jesse outside. "Jesse, wait!"

"Why? We aren't friends, remember? You told me as much." He said, not even turning around. She raced after him, thankful that she had experience running as fast as she could while chasing after a toddler, so she was easily able to catch up with him. She grabbed his arm, stopping dead and yanking on his arm with all of her might. It didn't do much, because she was so small and hardly muscular, but it was enough to give him a jerk. He stopped walking and turned around to face her. "You lied to me, Beca!" She shook her head, dropping his arm as if he burned her.

"I didn't lie to you, Jesse." She took a step back.

"Well, you sure as hell didn't tell me the truth! You have a kid, Beca! You have a kid, and you never told me!"

"I know!" She yelled back at him. "I'm sorry that I didn't tell you about Mel, but you have to understand what it is like for me! Everyone talks about me or gives me dirty looks. Everyone thinks they know everything about me just because they see me with Mel. They think I am some teenaged slut with no morals and from a trashy family who doesn't teach their kids to keep their legs shut or to use birth control. I am not any of those things. I made a mistake at fifteen, and it gave me the best gift in the whole world; it gave me Mel. I wouldn't change anything that happened in my past for a second, because I love Mel. She is my whole world. I am not ashamed for a second that I have her, but I didn't want to have to deal with the dirty looks and the assumptions. I don't trust people easily, and I have to protect my kid. I am sorry that you are pissed off that I kept some huge secret from you, but I had to protect my kid!" Beca turned on her heel and started back towards the auditorium.

This time, Jesse chased after her, but he didn't have to yank her arm quite as hard to make her stop. "I never would have judged you, Beca." He said quietly. "I can't imagine having to go through what you had to go through at such a young age. I can't even guess for a second how hard it must have been, but I never would have judged you for a second if you told me that you had a kid. If anything, I think it makes you even more amazing, because you have to be really strong to be a mom at such a young age."

"No, I got lucky. I was selfish, and I expected Aubrey, Chloe, Donald, my dad, and my step-mom, Sheila, to go above and beyond what was expected of them to help me with Mel. If I was truly selfless and smart, I would have done what was best for Mel and had given her up for adoption, but I didn't. I just happened to have five of the most generous, kind people in the world stand by me and to do everything in their power to help me keep Mel. I am beyond lucky to have them in my life, and I am beyond lucky to have gotten Mel as my kid."

"I get why you didn't tell me, Beca." Jesse told her after a moment. "If I was in your position, I wouldn't be so quick to tell people either. You didn't want to bring people into Mel's life with the chance that they might not stick around or might hurt her in some way. You need to protect her." Beca nodded her head, thankful that he understood where she was coming from. "I'm not pissed at you. I am hurt that you didn't trust me enough to tell me about Mel, but I understand why you didn't tell me the truth."

"It takes a lot for me to let people in." Beca muttered. "I am not the most agreeable person, and I hate showing weakness to people."

"Yeah, I can understand that, but you need to know something right now. I am not going anywhere. I am here for you, Beca." Beca didn't know if that made her feel better or worse.

"So, um…would…would you like to meet Mel?" She asked him hesitantly. Beca pulled her phone out of her back pocket to look at the time. "Oh, she is probably close to having a temper tantrum in there. It is well past her snack and nap time." Beca muttered.

"Well, I always carry pretzels and juice pouches in my bag." Jesse said, pulling the backpack from his shoulder to open it and pull out a box of pretzels before dropping it back in and grabbing a grape juice pouch instead.

"You will be her favorite person in the world right now, because grape is her favorite flavor of everything. And, what makes Mel happy, makes me happy." Beca said, turning on her heel and walking back into the auditorium, with Jesse on her heels. This day was turning out pretty well after all.


	3. Chapter 3

**Unbroken**

**Chapter 3**

**A **_**Pitch Perfect**_** Story**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything familiar.**

**Song Recommendation: **_**Somewhere Over the Rainbow**_** by Jewel (Her voice is beyond amazing.)**

**Author's Note: I am so happy that you all are enjoying this story so much! (On another note, I am being totally lame, but I absolutely loved the series **_**Emily Owens, MD **_**on the CW and Tuesday (Feb 5) was the series finale after only 13 episodes, and I was SO FUCKING **_**DEVASTATED**_**! that Emily did not chose Micah. Like seriously, TeamMicah was way better than TeamWill. Emicah all the way, people! Sorry for the rant; I just got very sad, and I was watching the episode while writing this. Sorry to spam my own story, but I just had to tell someone how sad I was over the ending of that show. Anyone else a fan of EOMD, TeamMicah, and Emicah?) I hope that Beca isn't too out of character by opening up in some parts to Jesse. I tried to gloss over parts, leaving the back story out in a lot of parts, because she has those walls up. Eventually, everything will come out fully, but for now, I am having Jesse slowly chip down the walls. Anyways, I hope you like this update.  
**

* * *

Mel doesn't like Jesse. It is a little surprising, considering that she loves Donald, Aubrey, Chloe, Evan, and, apparently, Fat Amy and Stacie-hell, even, Bumper.

Beca and Jesse enter the auditorium to see that Aubrey had passed Mel off to Stacie who was clutching the little girl like she was going to run off with her, which Beca was mildly concerned about. This seemed to humor Jesse when he saw her tense up with the way that Stacie was moaning about wanting to keep Mel and how she hoped to have a baby just like this one, and he chuckled, squeezing Beca's shoulder before pushing her forward. Stacie then passed Mel to Fat Amy, who hugged Mel close and told everyone that the little girl explained why Beca had a flat-butt and hardly weighed anything, because she spent her days vertical-running after a small child. Amy then turned to Bumper, pressing the little girl into his arms, saying that he better get used to holding babies now, because they were going to start having them soon enough. The look on Bumper's face was one of horror and disgust, which made Mel sad. She attempted to "turn your frown upside down, Thumper!" by using her finger tips to pull the corners of his lips up. When that didn't work, she leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his cheek, and oddly enough, Bumper smiled before he glanced up in relief when he saw that Beca had returned to the auditorium. The entire time, Mel was grinning like she was the happiest little girl in the world as she made her new friends.

"Thank God! Take it before I throw up or get hives!" He said, holding a squirming Mel away from his body. Beca rushed forward and pulled the three year old back into her arms.

"I feel like I should take her to the doctor to get checked out. Can three year olds get sexually transmitted diseases from contact?" She asked no one in particular, smirking at Bumper who rolled his eyes.

"You're hot. If it weren't for the fact that you have a child and your vagina is likely to have been ruined because of it, I would totally do you." He told her simply. "Donald, why did you never tell me that you knew such a hot chick? No offense, Aubrey." Beca's jaw dropped open, and everyone stared at him in shock, except for Fat Amy, who reached out and smacked him upside the head. When Bumper grabbed the back of his head to rub where she had hit him, she then elbowed him to the gut, making him blow out of all of his air and clutch his stomach, groaning in pain.

"He is never allowed to touch Melody again." Beca said quickly, stepping away from him, holding the little girl tightly to her chest. She turned slightly, looking at Jesse who was still standing a few feet away. Beca tensed up, giving him a shy smile as she rubbed a hand along Mel's back. Her palms felt sweaty for some unknown reason; she was afraid that Mel wouldn't like Jesse. She was even more afraid that she would like him, which would only further solidify that Jesse was like annoyingly perfect. She couldn't handle that, because it was hard enough to be a single mom; she couldn't add in the complications of dating. Not that she liked him or anything. She has barely known the guy for a month. She totally didn't find his smile heartwarming, nor did his eyes make her insides melt and her legs feel like jelly. And, when she felt his muscles beneath his shirt only a few minutes ago when she grabbed his arm, she totally did not act like a dog drooling over a juicy bone—that definitely didn't happen. She tightened her hold on Mel as she stepped forward. "Mel, this is Jesse; he is mommy's new friend. Wanna say hello?" She said guardedly, looking down at the little girl in her arms. She noticed that Mel's eyes were drooping slightly, and her bottom lip was jutting out; there was also a small crease in between her blue eyes, a frown starting to form. Beca frowned, realizing that Mel was tired and hungry, and it was likely that she was going to start screaming now that all of the excitement of the day was starting to dissipate. She looked up in alarm, trying to warn Jesse what was coming.

"NO!" Mel wailed, burying her face into Beca's neck, hot tears splashing against her skin. She started crying into Beca's shoulder, gripping her mom like she was going to abandon Mel. "I wanna go home!" Beca grimaced, and she rubbed Mel's back and whispered softly in her ear.

"It's okay, Melody; shhh, it's okay," Beca pressed a kiss to Mel's cheek, trying to calm her down. She looked up at Jesse, apologetically. "I think she has had it with being passed around and meeting so many new faces. She is overdue for her nap and snack." She told him, bouncing the crying girl lightly. She couldn't read his expression; he looked horrified, sad, confused, and a variety of other emotions that she couldn't read. Mel probably picked up on Beca's tension and nerves about meeting Jesse, and that mixed with feeling tired and hungry and over-stimulated by all of the new people, she finally had it; thus, she started one of the worst temper tantrums that Beca had ever seen her throw.

"Oh, Jesse! Don't worry!" Chloe said, rushing over to him to lay a hand on his arm. "This is normal for kids this age; she just needs to take a nap, get something to eat, and to get away from all of these people. It isn't you. You didn't do anything wrong."

"I have the juice pouches," he said after a moment, and Beca smiled appreciatively. Aubrey and Donald began shooing everyone from the room, with Bumper exclaiming rather adamantly to Fat Amy that this is why he was never having children. Beca settled in one of the auditorium seats, jerking her head to the seat beside her. Jesse sat down carefully, pulling a juice pouch and the box of pretzels from his bag.

"It's okay, Mel. Don't cry, little one. Mommy's here." Beca said as she rubbed Mel's back a little harder. Jesse carefully opened the juice pouch, stabbing it with the straw. Beca smiled appreciatively at him. She carefully sat Mel up, pressing a light kiss to the little girl's nose. She began wiping at Mel's cheeks with her fingers, whispering a light, "shhhh, sweetie," at her. Mel quieted down lightly; she was still crying hard, but she had stopped screaming and was attempting to take a couple of deep shuddering breaths. "Look, Mel. Jesse has grape juice for you. Would you like some grape juice?" Beca said, brushing her fingertips lightly across Mel's forehead, tucking a messy lock of hair behind her ear. Mel shook her head and tried to bury her face into Beca's neck again. "Look, Mommy will have some." She took the juice from Jesse and took a small sip of it. "Mmm! That tastes really yummy. Want to try it?" Mel carefully opened her mouth, and Beca brought the juice to the girl's lips. Mel's eyes widened when she began sucking at the juice, and a small smile slipped on her face. Tears were still steadily pouring down the girl's face, but she wrapped her hands around the juice pouch, taking it from Beca. "See how yummy that is?"

"Do you want some pretzels, Mel?" Jesse asked quietly, holding the box up to her. Mel looked up at Beca, still sipping the juice. Beca smiled and nodded her head lightly, so Mel looked back at Jesse. She released the straw from her mouth.

"Yes," she whispered.

"What do we say to Jesse for the juice and the pretzels?" Beca prompted, running her fingers through Mel's hair.

"Thank you," Mel whispered as Jesse opened the box and stuck his hand in to grab one of the big pretzels. He smiled warmly at Mel, extending the pretzel to her. Mel stared at it for a moment before she took it in her chubby, little hand. She carefully brought it up to her mouth and bit into it, the crumbs spilling down the front of her and onto hers and Beca's laps. Beca wiped at Mel's cheeks, shifting the little girl so that her back was resting against the front of her, and her head was tucked beneath Beca's chin. She began to softly sing Mel's favorite song, trying to calm the little girl down even further.

"_When all the world is a hopeless jumble  
And the raindrops tumble all around  
Heaven opens a magic lane  
When all the clouds darken up the skyway  
There`s a rainbow highway to be found  
Leading from your windowpane  
To a place behind the sun  
Just a step beyond the rain."_

Aubrey sat down beside Beca as she sang the first verse of the song. She stroked Mel's arm lightly, as Beca started the chorus. Chloe knelt before Beca, smiling warmly at Mel.

_"Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high_  
_There`s a land that I heard of once in a lullaby_  
_Somewhere over the rainbow, bluebirds fly_  
_Oh, if birds can fly over the rainbow_  
_Why; then, why can`t I?"_

Chloe took the next verse of the song, while Beca and Aubrey hummed along with her. Mel finished the last of her pretzel and began sucking at the juice pouch with vigor, her eyes locked on Chloe as she sang.

"_Someday I'll wish upon a star  
And wake up where the clouds are far behind me  
And troubles melt like lemon drops away above the chimney tops  
That`s where you`ll find me."_

"_Somewhere over the rainbow, bluebirds fly  
Oh, if birds can fly over the rainbow  
Why; then, why can`t I?"_

Aubrey took over for Chloe for the next verse, because this verse hit much higher notes, which her soprano voice hit better than Chloe's mezzo soprano or Beca's alto voice. Beca felt Mel's head start to loll back onto her shoulder, so she took the juice pouch from her hands, handing it to Jesse who leaned over to put it on the floor.

_"Someday I'll wake and rub my eyes_  
_And in that land beyond the skies_  
_You'll find me_  
_I'll be a laughing daffodil_  
_And leave the silly cares that fill my mind behind me_

_"Somewhere over the rainbow, bluebirds fly_  
_Oh, if birds can fly over the rainbow_  
_Why; then, why can`t I?"_

Beca, Aubrey, and Chloe all sang the last lines of the song quietly in harmony. Aubrey stroked Mel's right arm, while Beca ran her fingers through Mel's hair when the little girl's head shifted to nestle her cheek against her mother's chest.

"_If happy little bluebirds fly  
Beyond the rainbow  
Why; oh, why can`t I?"_

"She's asleep," Donald whispered from where he was leaning against the stage. Beca smiled, pressing a light kiss against Mel's forehead, and the little girl shifted in her lap to curl against. Beca was relieved to see that the little girl had turned to face Jesse, which she hoped meant that Mel was starting to feel more comfortable with him. "Do you want help getting her back home? I could carry her back to your house."

"Actually, I think I am going to just stay here for a bit and let her sleep. Is anyone using the auditorium for anything for the next hour or two?"

"No, we signed up from one to five, because we didn't know how many people were going to be auditioning. We signed up for the amphitheater beginning at seven tonight."

"What time is it now?" Beca said quietly. Her phone was in her pocket, and she didn't want to disturb Mel by pulling it out. Jesse pulled his phone from his pocket.

"It is about three." He told her.

"Crap." Aubrey said, running a hand through her hair. "We have go meet the girls in the rehearsal room so that we can pick the other girls we want to join the Bellas. We need to kidnap them at about five-fifteen or five-thirty so that we can get dinner and go through the whole sister initiation before the Hood Night party." She said to Chloe. Donald nodded his head, saying that he and Jesse would need to meet up with the rest of the Trebles, too.

"I don't want to leave Beca and Mel here alone, though." Chloe said, frowning as she stood up and went to lean against the stage beside Donald. She was staring at Beca and Mel with a conflicted look on her face.

"Guys, I will be fine." Beca said, rolling her eyes. "I have done this drill before. Remember when Mel passed out at the park in my lap when she was one, and my car was in the shop, and none of you could get me for an hour. I was perfectly fine sitting on the bench, so I will be perfectly fine sitting here for an hour."

"I'll stay with you." Jesse told her. He looked to Donald. "Tell Bumper I say we pick that Brian guy, Sean was alright…" He paused, scratching the back of his head. "Kevin was that blond kid, right? He had a pretty good bass. The rest of the guys you all want to pick don't really matter to me. I like those three the best, though."

"You don't have to stay with me. It's no big deal."

"Beca, I kind of feel responsible that she had that meltdown, so let me stay." Beca shook her head, stilling immediately when Mel shifted and hummed lightly in her sleep.

"Seriously, that wasn't your fault, at all." Beca told him.

"She did that with me the first time she met me." Donald said. "Well, not as much to that degree, because today she was tired, hungry, and overwhelmed by all of the new people, but when Beca let Aubrey bring me to her first birthday party, Mel practically melted into Beca's chest. When Aubrey and Chloe tried to coax her away from Beca, she started crying, and they had to sing that song to her to calm her down and put her down for a nap. About an hour later, she woke up, and she started warming up to me. It took me about three months for her to be fine with me being alone with her, so that is when I started helping to babysit her."

"She's not really around guys that much." Beca said, frowning as she looked down at the little girl in her arms. "The only men she associates with most of the time are my dad and Donald." She paused, looking up at Jesse. "You don't have to stay with me. It is fine. I will be fine." She said to him, before turning to look at the others. "Seriously, you guys have things that you need to do. Go."

"I'm staying." Jesse said, ignoring Beca. The other three nodded their heads, looking one last time at Beca and Mel before they all gathered up their stuff and began making their way out of the auditorium. Beca sighed, rolling her eyes at Jesse.

"You really didn't need to stay with me." She told him.

"Um, leave and hang out with a bunch of smelly guys who cures and burp and fart and act like a bunch of losers while they make fun of people who auditioned today," he said, raising one hand up in the air. He dropped that hand and raised the other. "Hang out with a pretty awesome girl who tries to act like she doesn't like me at all and calls me a dork, weirdo, freak, idiot, et cetera, helping me to keep my ego in check." He pretended that his hands were scales, raising one, while lowering the other, and vice versa. He narrowed his eyes, glancing between his hands, making Beca roll her eyes even more. "Hmmm, which is better…?" He said softly.

"Let me help you out," she said, reaching out and grabbed the hand that he raised originally about leaving and going to hang out with the Trebles. She raised that hand as high in the air as she could, saying, "looks like we have a winner." She dropped his hand and returned hers to the arm rest between their seats. Jesse just grinned at her, wagging his eyebrows at her.

"If you wanted to hold my hand, all you had to do was ask," he said, snagging her hand in his, interlacing their fingers. Beca couldn't help but gasp in response, her jaw dropping open. She shook her head a moment later, snapping out of her shock. She pulled her hand back from him.

"Jesse," she said, warningly, as she wrapped her arms around the little girl in her hands. "You don't want to go there." She whispered. "We can't." She felt him studying her face.

"Why not?" He asked her after a moment. Beca shook her head.

"We are barely friends." She said; she didn't want to have to have this conversation. It was far too complicated to get involved in anything more than a friendship with him.

"I'm pretty sure that most relationships get their start this way," he said quietly. "Two people meet, they start to get to know each other, and they realize that they like this person. They realize that there is something about this person that makes them want to know the person more, to see where it can go." Beca's jaw tensed, and she pressed her face into Mel's hair. "But, something tells me that if you and I were closer friends, you would make some B.S. excuse about not wanting to ruin our friendship." Beca didn't say anything, just let her eyes shut. "Beca, tell me right now that you don't like me and that you don't see anything happening between you and me."

Beca turned to look at him. She opened her mouth to speak, but she couldn't get those words out. She didn't want to like Jesse. She didn't want him to be right, because she could see something happening between them eventually. She closed her eyes and pressed a hand to her forehead.

"See, you can't even do it." Jesse said, shaking his head. "So, why are you pushing me away right now? Why are you trying to mess this up before it has even begun?" She could hear the tension in his voice, and she frowned.

"Jesse…" Beca took a deep breath. "All I want is friendship." The words were whispered, but she knew that he heard her by the way that he froze for a moment. The corners of his lips drooped into a frown, and he glanced away from her. "It is too complicated for anything more than that." She told him. His brow furrowed, and he turned to look at her.

"It isn't that complicated, Beca. Boy likes girl. Girl likes boy. They decide to go out on a date. At the end of the date, they kiss. They then decide whether to go out on another date. Then, at the end of that date, they decide if they want to go out again. And so on until they figure out if they want to be in a relationship or if they work out better as friends. See, not complicated."

"Do you not notice the elephant in the room?" Beca said, pointing to the three year old in her lap.

"I don't care that you are a mom." She rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"You might not think that, but believe me you do."

"Don't tell me how I think and feel, Beca." He said, crossing his arms.

"I'm not trying to, Jesse." Beca said quietly. "Fine, you might not care now, but you might feel it later. I am not a normal girl. I can't be a normal date or girlfriend, because I have Mel. I can't hang out with you every day or every other day. I can't go out on dates all of the time. I can't hang out with you when you get bored. I can't go to parties on the weekends with your friends. I can't stay out late at night. I definitely can _never_ spend the night with you." She said pointedly as she looked down at the little girl in the lap. "The one time I did that, I wound up with her."

"Seriously? You're first time? You're only time?" Jesse said; his voice went up an octave in shock. She turned and glared at him.

"What? Does that really shock you? Do I look like the kind of girl who sleeps around or something?"

"No, it's not that…" He groaned, running a hand down his face. "It just…that sucks!" Beca stared at him. "Seriously, I didn't think that you were the type to sleep around before or after you got pregnant, at all. I just didn't expect to hear you say that you had sex only once and got pregnant. That just sucks. Bad." Beca grimaced, embarrassed.

"I can't believe that we are talking about this. It is completely embarrassing."

"It isn't embarrassing, Beca. When people are figuring out their relationships, they need to talk about sex, so that they know what the other person is comfortable with. Sex is an important part of every relationship, whether or not the couple is currently have sex or not." She rolled her eyes and glared at him.

"We aren't figuring out a relationship, Jesse." She shook her head. She groaned quietly, wishing that she could stand up and walk away. "This is far too complicated. I just…I don't…I'm not talking about this anymore. I'm not talking to you anymore."

"You can't be serious." Jesse said, and Beca just ignored him, choosing instead to run her fingers through Mel's hair and along her back. She was dying to stand up and walk away, but Mel was still sleeping peacefully. She wished she knew what time it was. How long had it been since Aubrey, Chloe, and Donald had left? "Wow. You are serious. I guess I just hit the first wall." Beca's jaw ticked when she heard him say that, but she didn't respond. After a few moments, she couldn't stand the silence, especially because he was staring at her.

"Stop looking at me." She muttered.

"No."

"Jesse, just get over it. Nothing is going to happen between us. Maybe not even friendship if you keep harassing me over being more than friends or being creepy. I have Mel, and I am never going to be a normal girl. You might feel like that isn't a problem now, but it will be. You are going to start to resent the fact that I can't do all of those things that I mentioned before, because I am a mom."

"No, I wouldn't, Beca." He leaned over and laid a hand on her upper arm. "I am not going to lie. Today was a complete shock. I hoped that I would see you walk out on that stage today, because it would have given me something else to talk to you about. It would have given me an excuse to hang out with you more. It would have meant that we had something else in common, and I wanted that more than anything. You this enigma, and I just…I had to get to know you more, because from the moment I laid my eyes on you at the activities fair, I was hooked. Then, Donald came into the room, with this beautiful little girl in his arms. I think a part of me knew at that moment—I didn't want to believe it, but I think I knew that she was yours. She looks so much like you. She has your eyes and your nose and your hair. She reminded me of you. Then, Donald called out to Aubrey and Chloe, referring to them as her aunts, and I remembered how you kept saying that you didn't like Aubrey so many times, but you said that you loved her. It all came together then, but I still didn't want to believe it, because I didn't want to think that you would keep such a huge secret from me."

"I hardly know you, Jesse." She whispered.

"I know that. Believe me, I know that. I just…there is something about you, Beca. There is something about you that makes me want to know everything about you, and I just…I thought that you felt it, too. I thought that you felt like I was someone you could open up to and share your life with. So, when it was finally confirmed that you were Mel's mom, it hurt me, because you didn't share it with me. I know why you wouldn't—believe me, I get it. I am just trying to help you understand where I am coming from. It hurt me, because it meant that you didn't feel the same way. If you wanted to share everything in your life with me—if you wanted to open up to me, you would have told me about Mel. Maybe not that very first day that you met me, but when we talked about your mom and what she said to you when you moved out of her house. That would have been the perfect moment to open up to me. You could have said, 'she kicked me out of the house, because I got pregnant, and now I have a daughter.' But, you showed only the tiniest bit of emotion before you closed up again."

"I don't open up to people." She told him. "It takes a long time for me to open up to people. I don't think I have shared everything with anyone since I was ten, when my parents divorced."

"Not even with Mel's father?" Beca shook her head, scoffing. "Tell me about him?"

"He was two years older. I met him when I was fourteen. He was cool. He had a car, and he had a leather jacket. He smoked cigarettes and had a fake id, so he could get beer easily. He had a bunch of tattoos." She swallowed the sour taste in her mouth; she always got that when she talked about Shane—hell, thought about him. "I thought he was so amazing, because he was edgy, and I was looking to rebel. We started hanging out, hooking up every now and again. I got my first tattoo with him. It was the day that my freshman year ended, and his cousin was a tattoo artist. It was the first summer that I wasn't going to spend completely with my dad. I was going to go visit him in July—after my birthday. I wanted to hang out with my friends here, not be in Georgia in a college town where I hardly knew anyone aside from Aubrey and her friends.

"My mom saw the tattoo, though, and she flipped out. She told me I wasn't allowed anywhere near Shane and shipped me off to be with my dad the next day. When I got back, right before school started, I started sneaking around with Shane. We officially began dating on September 1, 2008. It was a Monday; the first day of school. He and I had hardly spoken over the summer, because my mom made my dad monitor my internet and phone usage. He and I were in a relationship just about four months when we had sex." Beca paused, staring straight in front of her. She was quiet for a few minutes, but something about Jesse made her want to share the next part of her story with him.

"It was New Year's Eve. I was drunk and mad at the world. I don't even remember it. I just remember waking up with a killer hangover and naked beside a boy I barely knew anything about. I told him that I wasn't ready to keep having sex. A month later, I took a pregnancy test, and it came back negative. Five weeks later, I had gained a few pounds, and my stomach was hard as a rock already. I was nauseous, tired all the time, constantly having to pee, breast tenderness—the telltale signs of pregnancy. I took another pregnancy test, and this one was positive. The doctor confirmed it a few days later. I kept it a secret for a few more weeks, but I was super skinny, and I began to show quickly. I told Shane, and he told me that it wasn't his. He told me that even if it was his, he didn't want anything to do with me or the pregnancy. He said he was seventeen years old, and he wasn't going to be a dad. It was starting to get warm—I couldn't hide behind a sweatshirt, and my mom realized that I was showing. I told her the truth—that I was pregnant. She kicked me out when I was eleven weeks pregnant. She said that I disgusted her and that she never wanted to speak to me again." Beca wiped at the tear that slipped down her cheek.

"Beca," Jesse grabbed her hand, interlacing their fingers. This time, it wasn't a gesture to indicate that he was interested in her. This time, Beca knew, it was a gesture to show her that he was there for her—it was out of comfort and support. She still refused to look at him, but she squeezed his hand tightly.

"Only my dad, Sheila, and Aubrey know that story. Chloe and Aubrey have been friends since kindergarten. Chloe knew that I lived with my mom until the pregnancy, and when I moved in with my dad, I stopped talking about my mom. I think she assumed that my mom wasn't okay with the pregnancy, but she doesn't know the true extent of what happened between us. Unless Aubrey told her. Donald doesn't know anything about my mom. He has only known me as Aubrey's step-sister and living with Dad and Sheila. He has seen the pictures of me, my dad, Sheila, and Aubrey during vacations and family events since I was about twelve and she was fifteen, but he has no idea about my mom. He might even think that she is dead or that I have always been with my dad. Again, unless Aubrey told him the truth." Beca closed her eyes. "I don't want to talk about this anymore."

"Okay. So, what is your favorite movie?" Beca bit her lip, knowing that the words that were about to come out of her mouth were going to destroy him. She shrugged, grimacing. "What? Do you not like movies or something?" She shrugged again.

"You can't be serious! What is wrong with you?! How can you not like movies?!"

"They are just so predictable! I get bored, and I never make it to the end."

"The endings are the best part! Are you crazy?" Jesse asked, pressing a hand to his chest. "What is wrong with you!? Have you never shown a movie to Mel? Seriously? Because if that is the case, I am going to have to call Child Protective Services or something. That is like child abuse or something." Beca glared at him. "Oh, Jeeze! Sorry! I meant it as a joke." She didn't find a joke about abusing her child and having Mel being taken away from her as funny.

"Mel has seen movies. Aubrey, Chloe, Donald, my dad, and Sheila have all shown her movies. Her nickname is Minnie Mouse, for Heaven's sake. My dad started calling her Mini-Me when she grew hair and it was official that her eyes were staying blue, which turned into Minnie Mouse. I have seen pretty much everything Disney about ten times each in the last three years." Beca rolled her eyes. "Seriously, the feminist in me wants to murder the screenwriters and creators of Disney movies, because they are awful. But, Mel loves them, so what can I do?"

"So, when you needed a break—some Beca time—you never went to the movies with friends or anything?"

"I didn't really have many friends. No one wanted to be friends with the teen mom when I got Atlanta. I stopped talking to the people I hung out with in Pittsburg when I moved here." Beca shrugged. "As for 'Beca time,' I would listen to music—I made my own mixes. I taught myself to play guitar. Oh, and the piano. Maybe eventually I will teach myself how to play the drums, too."

"Shit, you play the guitar and piano? That is cool. I play pretty much every string instrument—started out on piano as a kid. Then, in elementary school, I took violin, viola, and cello lessons. Then, in high school, I taught myself how to play the bass, which is a lot like the cello. Then, I taught myself how to play the guitar, too. I would like to learn how to play other instruments, like a wind instrument—maybe the sax or the trumpet? Maybe the drums?" Beca stared at him in shock.

"Seriously? What are you, a musical prodigy, or something?"

"Nah, an only child. My parents wanted me to be well-rounded, so when I was four, they started me on piano lessons. They also tried me out on t-ball, but I hated t-ball and loved music, so they ran with the music thing. Ever instrument I learned, I found myself loving and wanting to learn another. I stuck with all of them, too. I took one-hour piano, violin, viola, and cello lessons until I graduated from college—one hour lessons for each instrument once a week, and the rest of the time I spent teaching myself the guitar and bass." He smiled, showing Beca his hands. "Check out the calluses on these bad boys. I hated using picks." She shook her head.

"Where did you have the free time to fit in the movie obsession?"

"I have always loved movies and music. I always noticed how amazing the scores of movies can be—how they often helped dictate what you were supposed to feel. Like, during horror movies, the music is always panicked and foreboding; during love stories, the music is always dramatic, serious, and beautiful. Comedies have light, playful music. They help you to understand what feeling you are supposed to have during that particular scene. I loved learning all of these instruments, and I thought that maybe I could do that one day. Maybe I could write some amazing piece of music that would bring you to tears or make you laugh or scare you or move you in some way. It was from that moment on that I knew that I wanted to score movies."

Beca smiled, rolling her eyes lightly. "You are such a nerd." She laughed. "But, I admire your passion. That is how I feel about producing and mixing. I want to be the person who helps take the raw talent that someone has and make it into this amazing work of art that will be shared with the world."

"Well, obviously I will need your skills with my music." Beca studied him, smiling softly at him.

"Maybe…" She shrugged, shifting Mel slightly in her arms, because her leg was starting to go numb from the little girl's weight. "It depends if you are good."

"Oh, I'm _good_, Miss Mitchell," Jesse said suggestively, winking. "In more ways than one." She groaned, reaching over to smack his arm.

"Don't be an ass." She muttered. "What time is it?" Jesse glanced at his phone.

"Four-fifteen." She nodded. Beca looked down at the little girl in her arms. Using one of her hands, she lightly shook Mel, while the other was stroking through the girls' hair.

"Melody, it's time to get up." Beca said softly. The little girl began to shift, and she moaned lightly as she rubbed at her eyes. After about ten minutes of shifting, eye rubbing, and making noises, Mel finally sat up and looked around. Her hair was an even bigger mess again, and Beca chuckled softly as she attempted to comb through it with her fingers. "Hello, little one. Have a good nap." Mel stuck her thumb into her mouth as she stared at Beca; she reached out with her other hand to stroke along Beca's cheek. She nodded her head and smiled around her thumb before turning and focusing her attention on Jesse. She cocked her head to the side before she carefully reached out towards him. "She wants to touch your face. She always does that when she wakes up with whoever she is with." Jesse nodded his head, leaning forward carefully. Mel closed the distance, gently rubbing her hand on his cheek; her eyes were locked with his. She released her thumb a moment later, and she smiled shyly at him. Mel yanked her hand away from his face before burying her face into Beca's neck again, occasionally turning her head to glance at Jesse.

"I think she is starting to like me." He said carefully. Beca just bent her head to press a kiss to Mel's hair, hiding the smile against the little girl's head.

"Ready to go walk home?"

"You walked here?" Jesse asked, shocked.

"I only live about five minutes away. Well, the walk takes about ten to fifteen with Mel, but it isn't that bad. During the winter, I will have to drive more often, but for now, we walk. It is good to get rid of Mel's energy. She is always full of energy." She helped the little girl down and stood up, stretching her arms above her head. She rolled her head on her neck, and then shook out her legs. "Alright, Minnie, it is time to hit the road." She extended her hand to Mel and grabbed the oversized purse she had left with Donald, full of Mel's Barbie dolls.

"We never finished our conversation." Beca frowned in confusion as the three of them made their way out of the auditorium.

"What conversation?"

"The conversation where you tried to tell me why this wouldn't work," Jesse said as he waved a hand between him and her. Beca frowned, shaking her head.

"Jesse," she began, but he held a hand up.

"I told you before that I don't judge you for having Mel when you were sixteen. I also know that it isn't a problem for me—none of those reasons you listed are a problem for me. I really like you, Beca. And, you are so amazing with Mel. I want this." Beca sighed, looking down at the little girl beside her.

"You want it now, Jesse, but you aren't thinking about the long term. You are nineteen years old. Mel is three; she is at an age where she is going to start to realize that there are usually two parents—a mommy and a daddy, two mommies, or two daddies, whatever. She is going to realize that she isn't normal, because she only has one parent. If you and I were to really hit it off—to start having a relationship, then she might see you as her father-figure. Which, you aren't." She looked over at him, and she could tell that he was hurt by that comment. "I'm not saying that I _don't_ want that." He cocked an eyebrow at her, and Beca groaned, throwing her free hand up in the air. They made it outside, and Beca carefully helped Mel down the front steps of the building to the sidewalk.

"Just because I said that doesn't mean that I actually want you to be a father-figure for Mel, either. I am just stating the facts. You aren't Mel's dad. But, if you and I were to date, it is likely that she would eventually see you as that. Now, if we were twenty-five years old or something, and you and I started dating, I wouldn't have as much of a problem with it, but because we are nineteen and in college, I do. If you and I were to get together and then break up—because the likelihood of college romances working out are only slightly better than high school ones. Not many people meet their future spouse in high school, and not too many more meet their future spouse when they are freshmen or sophomores in college either. I'm not saying that that isn't possible; I am just saying that it is unrealistic that this relationship would last forever. So, Mel begins to see you as her dad, and we break up. You aren't her father, so you don't have to stay involved in her life. Hell, even if you were her father, you wouldn't have to stay involved in her life, because my mom abandoned me, and Shane abandoned her before she was even born. But, you definitely wouldn't have to stick around and be a part of her life if were to break up, because you aren't her dad. So, my kid loses a parental figure in her life because we were too young. She feels what I felt when my mom said that she no longer wanted to be a part of my life. I don't want Mel to go through that." She paused, running a hand through her hair. "I am rambling. Does any of that make any sense?" Jesse was silent for a moment. He nodded his head.

"Yeah, I get it, Beca. You are protecting her. And, you are right. I don't know if this would wind up being the be-all-end-all relationship that was supposed to last me my entire life; your right that I am probably not ready for the responsibility of being a dad. You right that I am not Mel's father and if we were to break up, I wouldn't have a responsibility to continue to be involved in her life. That being said, I do like you. I do want to see where this could go between us. I do want to be in your life. If you think that it is best that you and I are only friends, then I am willing to do just that." Jesse said, and Beca sighed in relief, giving him a small smile. She stopped when they reached the point where she and Mel were going to go their separate way. "For now." Jesse added before he started walking backwards, away from her. Beca shielded her eyes with her hand, frowning at that comment. Jesse shoved his hands into his pockets and nodded at her. "Goodbye, Beca Mitchell. I will see you tonight at the party. Bye, Mel. It was very nice to meet you." Mel waved at him, and Jesse grinned, waving back. With one final look at Beca, and a quick, "for now," Jesse turned around and started walking away from them.

Beca stared at his retreating form for a moment before she shook her head and began walking towards her home. She didn't know what to make of Jesse and his insistence that they were going to get together. If she were a normal nineteen year old girl, she didn't think that she would be holding herself back, but she had Mel to think about. Everything she had said was completely true. She didn't have the freedom that a girl who wasn't a mom had; she also didn't want to risk Mel getting attached to Jesse when he could be gone the very next day. There was also the fact that she was trying to protect herself from the heartbreak that comes from another important person in her life abandoning her. She was so close to Donald and Chloe that she knew if Aubrey had ever stopped talking to either one of them, they were still her friends and would be involved in hers and Mel's lives. But, Shane had abandoned her. Her mom had abandoned her. Hell, her dad had somewhat abandoned her, but he more than made up for it when Beca needed a home and a family to help care for her and Mel. She couldn't handle the idea of getting close to Jesse only to lose him later. If they were friends, it was safer—the connection that they would have wouldn't be as severe as it would be if they were dating. The severing of that closeness would hurt her far worse than the severing of a friendship.

Beca didn't realize that in a few days, her world was going to be thrown through a loop and never recover.


	4. Chapter 4

**Unbroken**

**Chapter 4**

**A **_**Pitch Perfect**_** Story**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything familiar.**

**Song Recommendation: **_**Feels like the First Time**_** by Foreigner; **_**Peacock**_** by Katy Perry (**_**Peacock **_**will be sung as follows: **Beca; _Cynthia Rose_; **Stacie**; **_Cynthia Rose/Stacie_**; All of the Bellas**)**

****Edit: FF was being temperamental with the underlines, bolds, etc. So, I tweaked it so who sings what makes sense. Sorry for any confusion!**  
**

**Author's Note: I think that I shouldn't be writing chapters in the middle of the night anymore. There are quite a few mistakes in the last chapter that I need to go back and change eventually. Sorry about that. So, Katy Perry has a bunch of dirty songs, and I thought that this one would be hilarious in this scene. It would be a way to mess with Jesse, which is going to become Beca's new favorite pastime, since he has started to do it with her. And, it would ensure that the Bellas would win, which I think that they should have won in the movie—the start of their domination over the Trebles. Enjoy! **

* * *

It was a Saturday afternoon in October, and she was playing with Mel on the front lawn of the house. The two of them are playing with a soccer ball, and Beca wondered where Mel gets her athleticism from, because each and every time she kicked the ball, it went nowhere or she nearly fell flat on her ass, but Mel, on the other hand, kicked some pretty good shots that went through Beca's legs and she had only taken a tumble a couple of times. Seriously, Beca had no idea where her daughter's skills came from, but she can already tell that a lot of sports' games will be in her future. She wasn't sure if she was the "soccer" mom type. She groaned when another ball flies between her legs, and this time she actually fell onto her ass. "Oh, no! Momma, you okay?" Mel asked, running over to Beca. She dropped to her knees beside Beca. She pressed her hands to Beca's knees, frowning as she looked for any signs that Beca was hurt. Beca smiled, leaning forward and grabbing the little girl into her arms. She fell back, pulling the giggling Mel back with her and tickling her. Mel rocked back and forth in Beca's arms, screaming in laughter.

The sound of a car door slamming across the street distracted Beca for a moment, and she glanced over, her hands immediately stilling. She sat up with Mel, pressing a kiss to the little girl's head. She stood up, grabbing hold of Mel's hand. "Why don't you go inside and get a drink from Grandma, Mels?" She said rather loudly, smiling down at Mel as she walked her over to the front door and pulled it open. "Mommy will be in a few minutes," she added. Mel nodded her head, rushing into the house, screaming for Sheila at the top of her lungs. Beca smiled to herself as the sound of the word "grandma" came thundering back out towards her as she shut the door. Beca turned on her heel, crossing her arms and glaring at the woman walking up the front walk towards the house. "You can stop there." She said loudly when the woman got about halfway up the walk.

"Why, Beca, is that anyway to speak to your mother?" Beca's eyes narrowed in disgust. She might look like the woman in front of her—she had her mother's chin and nose—but this woman was _not _her mother. Not since she was fifteen years old, scared and pregnant, and her mother told her that she disgusted her and wanted to never see her again.

"I'm sorry, but my _mother_ is inside with my daughter." She said heatedly. She didn't usually refer to Sheila as anything other than her dad's wife, Mel's grandmother, Aubrey's mother, or Sheila, but occasionally she would throw in a step-mother (or when Sheila pissed her off, step-monster). She had _never_ referred to Sheila as her mother, but she felt like the moment called for it now.

"Oh, please. That bottle-blond, Stepford wanna-be is not your mother." The woman scoffed, rolling her eyes. She waved a hand towards the door. "Aren't you going to invite your mom in?" She asked sweetly. Beca didn't say anything. She just stared at her.

"Stop calling yourself that." She said. "Why don't you leave, _Margaret_?" She pointed toward the car. "You aren't welcome here at my home." She turned around and marched into the house, slamming the door behind her and locking it. She leaned against the door and clamped her eyes shut for a moment. She looked down at her hands, noticing that they were shaking. She rubbed them against her jeans, hoping that that would calm her down, but they wouldn't stop shaking. She wrapped them around her waist, gripping her hipbones as her body shuddered; she bit her lip and shut her eyes again, trying to keep her tears and cries at bay. She didn't want to scare Mel, because the little girl hardly ever saw when her mom was upset. Beca wanted to protect her.

"Beca?" She heard Sheila's voice and the sound of footsteps on the wooden floor made her jump. Sheila stopped dead in the doorway that led to the kitchen. She heard Mel laughing at whatever animated cartoon that was playing on the Disney channel or something on the small TV that sat on the counter. Sheila frowned in concern, making her way to Beca quickly, laying a hand hesitantly on her arm. "What's wrong?"

"I…Shit!" Beca muttered, pressing her hands to her face, feeling the tears pour out of her eyes. She shook her head, running the hands into her hair, looking at Sheila. She threw her arms around the woman who had stood by her exactly three and a half years ago. The blond woman froze for a moment before she wrapped her arms around Beca, who was hardly one for public displays of affection except when it came to Mel. "Margaret started calling me a few weeks ago." She muttered. She felt Sheila tighten her grip on her. "She just…she just showed up a few moments ago and called herself my _mother_ and had the never to ask to be invited in." Beca spat, gripping the older woman's back so tightly, she was sure that she was digging her nails in. She relaxed her hands slightly as she apologetically added, "I said that you were more of a mother to me than her." Sheila gasped in surprise before she pulled back so that she could look in Beca's tearful eyes.

"Beca, it's going to be okay. I will call your dad, and he and I will get to the bottom of this. We will find out what the hell she is doing here, and we will get rid of her." Sheila gripped Beca's forearms, smiling supportively at her. "If that is what you want." Beca nodded her head. She knew that one day she would have to work through her issues with Margaret, but she wasn't ready now. She had a three year old to worry about.

"Momma! Grandma! I want down!" Mel called from the kitchen, where she was probably strapped into her child seat on one of the chairs at island. She was too big for a high chair, but still too small to be able to sit in a seat by herself. Beca stepped away from Sheila, making her way towards the kitchen.

"I'm gonna say goodbye to her before I grab my stuff for work. Don't let her outside without making sure that bitch isn't around." Beca muttered quietly over her shoulder. "Mommy's coming, Minnie Mouse!" She called out.

"Why don't you call out of work tonight? You usually don't work on Saturdays."

"Jesse helped me snag this shift so that I could get next Friday night off for the Riff-Off thing that Aubrey says is mandatory for all Bellas, including myself."

"I'm sure she would understand if you didn't make it on Friday." Beca shook her head at Sheila.

"I'm not going to let Margaret screw with me." She muttered before she made her way into the kitchen.

* * *

Thirty minutes later, Beca walked into the station. It was a Saturday, and Connor, one of the DJs, was in the booth for the night. He always did a lot of requests on Saturday nights, so he needed a lot of man power to go running around the station to grab CDs and such. This meant that Beca had to deal with not only Jesse, who still continued to flirt unabashedly with her despite his saying that he accepted that she only wanted friendship from him, but she also had to deal with Trish. She only had to work with Trish a few times throughout her time as the resident CD-stacker and lunch-fetcher at the station, because most of her shifts somehow coincided with Jesse's (which, Beca suspected was his intentional doing). Those shifts were hell, because the redhead would make Beca do the most ridiculous things (like go through every CD case and make sure that the CD's were turned so that the writing was right side up or whatever), just because she had a stick up her ass. Beca always contemplated asking the redhead if she and Jesse had ever gotten dinner to celebrate the start of the new school year, but she was afraid that the crazy bitch might attack her with her mile-long fake nails. She figured that tonight was going to be horrible—a combination of Trish flirting her ass off with Jesse in the hopes that it would make Beca pissed and/or jealous (it won't—okay, so maybe a little, but whatever) and the death glares from the redhead when she would see Jesse flirt with her. She was already frazzled due to the sudden appearance of Margaret.

Beca barely made eye contact with Jesse when she arrived, saying a barely audible hello, before she grabbed the black bin full of CDs to start stacking on the shelves. She felt his eyes on her as he said his hello. She ignored Trish, who chattered on and on about her human sexuality class that she was taking, saying things about how she was learning the most amazing things about erogenous zones on men from the class. Beca rolled her eyes when she heard the suggestiveness in the redhead's voice. "That's great, Trish." Jesse's voice was always monotone when he responded. She made it through the first bin and walked over to the desk where Jesse was seated, doing some kind of paperwork, and Trish was chattering away from where she was seated on the filing cabinet beside it. The redhead was barely wearing any clothing, and Beca cocked an eyebrow at her as she watched Trish lean back in a way that simultaneously accentuated her boobs and made her tiny skirt ride up. She dropped the bin down on the floor beside the desk, grabbing the full one that was next to it. Jesse glanced up from where his eyes were glued on the paperwork in front of him in an attempt to avoid looking up Trish's skirt. He smiled at Beca, turning in the chair to face the brunette. "What's wrong?"

Beca furrowed her brow, looking down at Jesse in confusion. Her upper arms were straining from the weight of the basket. "What are you talking about?" She thought that she was doing a good job at keeping her bad mood a secret. "I'm fine."

"No, you're not." He said, reaching for the bin in Beca's hands. She held on tightly to it, but he was much stronger than her, so her fingers gave way, allowing him to take it. Jesse placed the bin on the floor beside his chair and crossed his arms, staring up at her with his eyes narrowed.

"I'm fine, Jesse." She said, rolling her eyes.

"No, you're not." He said again.

"She said she was fine, Jesse." Trish's annoying voice came from behind him. "She should get back to work now. There is a lot to do tonight." Beca's jaw ticked, and she tightened her hands into fists.

"Yeah, I should get back to work now." She bent down, grabbing the bin and rising. She made her way over to the stacks and began filing the CDs. She heard the redhead groan when Jesse stood up and followed her. He grabbed Beca's upper arm after she stood from grabbing a CD from the bin she had placed at her feet. He took the CD from her hands, shoved it randomly on the shelf, and pulled her in the direction of front office of the building that the radio station shared with the club that led programs on alcohol awareness, sex education, and other health-related programs around campus. She crossed her arms and glared up at him.

"What's wrong?"

"What's wrong with you? I am just trying to do my job, so that I can get paid." She said angrily. "I'm fine."

"Is it Mel? Is she sick? A fight with your dad or your step-mom? Hell, a fight with Aubrey?" Beca dropped her arms, refusing to look Jesse in the eye. "I know that there is something wrong. You're even surlier than usual." She scoffed, rolling her eyes.

"Nothing's wrong, Jesse. Just let it go."

"No." He grabbed Beca's hand, interlacing their fingers. "You know that I care about you, Beca. I know that something is bothering you, and as your _friend_, I would like to know what it is." Beca stared at their hands for a moment, contemplating telling him what was going on. Jesse lifted his other hand to slide it along her cheek, tucking the hair that had fallen in her face behind her ear. "Talk to me," he whispered, keeping his hand on her cheek once her hair had been secured behind her ear. Her eyes shut when she felt his thumb stroke along her cheekbone.

"She kept calling me." She said simply, and she felt him squeeze her hand tightly for a moment. "She showed up today. I was playing with Mel on the front lawn, and she showed up. I sent Mel inside, and she acted like it was a normal thing for her to show up and kept calling herself my mom and asking to come inside. I told her to leave."

"Oh, Beca," Jesse muttered, pulling her close and wrapping his arms around her waist. She buried her face into his shoulder, willing herself not to cry. It felt so good to be pressed against his body—seriously, what kind of cologne did he use?—so she wrapped her arms around him, pressing her fingers into his back as she held tightly to him. "I'm so sorry." She turned her head so that her face was buried into his neck, thanking God that she had him at this moment.

"Jesse? Beca? Where are—seriously?" Trish's higher-pitched, breathy voice became even higher and pinched when she pulled the door open and found them hugging. Beca pulled away from him instantly, wrapping her arms around herself, trying to block her emotion from her face. She didn't show weakness, especially not in front of annoying bitches like Trish, she told herself pointedly.

"Excuse me," she muttered, pushing past Trish and going back to where she was stacking CDs. She heard Jesse and Trish arguing about what Trish had walked in on. The redhead wanted to know if he was fucking Beca, and Jesse had replied that it was none of her business, considering she wasn't his girlfriend. That shut the redhead up, and she turned on her heel, marching toward the booth, glaring at Beca along the way, to go talk to Connor.

"Sorry about that. Trish is super annoying." Jesse said, walking back over to Beca. He laid a hand on her lower back, stepping close to her and invading her personal space. "I want to make sure that you are okay."

"I'm fine." Beca muttered, freezing beside him. She turned away from him to grab another CD from the bin, adding space between the two of them. "Trish likes you." She said after a few moments.

"I don't like her." Jesse replied, grabbing a couple of CDs from the bin and began stacking them on the shelf.

"She acts really territorial with you." Beca said as she grabbed more CDs. "Like you are her boyfriend."

"But, I'm not."

"But, you slept with her." Beca said, shoving the last CD in her hands onto the shelf. She turned to face him, placing both hands on her hips.

"What?!" Jesse said, looking over at her in shock. "No, of course not!" He said quickly, looking away, and Beca could hear the guilt in his voice.

"Seriously? You slept with her? What is wrong with you?"

"Look, it was like one time. No big deal."

"Does she know that?"

"Yes, she knows that. It really wasn't that big of a deal. It was finals' week, and we were stressed over making sure we aced our exams and—"

"You don't have to explain yourself to me. I'm not your girlfriend, but you obviously didn't explain to her that it meant nothing more than a way to work off some stress." Beca said, crossing her arms and glaring at him. "And, you got to lay off the touching and the flirting. I don't need to add girl drama in my already complicated life. We agreed that we were going to be friends, so you are going to act like my friend."

"I am acting like your friend." Jesse told her.

"Oh, so you hold hands with Bumper and try to hug him and touch him all of the time?" Beca asked him, cocking her head to the side; she raised an eyebrow at him.

"Bumper? No. We aren't friends." Jesse smirked, taking a step towards her and laying his hands on her hips, pulling her flush against his body. "Donald? Unicycle? Koolio? Hell, yeah. Benji was actually my roommate last year before we moved into the Treble house, and we would sometimes push our beds together and cuddle at night." Beca laughed, shaking her head. "You think I am kidding, but I get very scared after watching horror movies. Sometimes a guy just needs to cuddle with a friend." He said, trying to keep a straight face. Beca rolled her eyes, putting her hands onto Jesse's wrists and pushing them away from her body. "I'm holding auditions for new friends to cuddle with. There is a new requirement, though." Beca rolled her eyes.

"What's that?" She should have known that she would regret asking that question.

"They have to have boobs." Beca groaned, shaking her head and turning away from him trying to keep back another laugh. It apparently humored him, which made him keep up his annoying commentary. "What? Boobs are way more comfortable as pillows than Benji's chest. That kid does not have man-boobs like Bumper. If Bumper wasn't such a douche, he would be the perfect cuddle partner, but alas, I will have to settle on a girl…" She shook her head, trying to hold the chuckle back.

"You are ridiculous." He bowed.

"You know you want to audition." He said cockily, winking at her when she looked over her shoulder at him as she bent down to grab the CDs.

"Stop being an asshole, Jesse."

"Are you feeling better?" He asked her, seriously. She nodded her head, smiling at him.

"Yes, thank you." She said as she stacked the CDs on the shelves. "But, you need to cool it with the flirting, okay?"

"Fine. When Trish is around, I won't flirt with you."

"Don't flirt at all, Jesse. Friends don't flirt."

"Beca, I told you that I was going to suck up the friend stipulation, but I never said that I wasn't going to continue to try and make you realize that I am perfect and that you are totally into me."

"Jesse," she groaned, turning to face him. "Please?"

"Beca, I know that you are trying to protect Mel—seriously, I get it." He paused, running a hand through his hair. "I like you, Beca. Hell, I like Mel, even though she partially hates me. I want to see where this could go, but I heard you when you said that you wanted to just be friends. So, we are friends." Jesse walked over to Beca again, taking her hands in his. "I hate to break it to you, kid, but this is how I act with my friends—especially the girls. I am a flirt. I am touchy-feely. I will continue to harass the shit out of you purely for the fun of it. If it happens to make you fall madly in love with me, then that will be the cherry on top of what will be a rather delicious friendship-cake."

"You really are a weirdo." She muttered, pulling away from him. "Now, I need to get back to work or else your ex-fuck-buddy is going to claw my eyes out with her gross fake nails. Leave me alone." She said, pointing a finger at him. Jesse groaned, pouting, before he made his way back to the desk to finish the paperwork that he had been working on earlier.

Beca was amazed that Jesse was able to behave himself and keep his hands himself for the rest of the night. Even when Trish returns to them to flirt ferociously with Jesse in front of Beca, as if she was going to "steal" him away from the brunette, Jesse keeps his hands to himself, even though he was clearly dying to grab her hand or to wink at her or something. He kept his gaze away from the redhead and on Beca the entire time, but he stayed away from her, which Beca was relieved. At the end of the night, Trish was obviously at her wit's end, trying to figure out one last way to ensure that she was Jesse's favorite. "Um, Beca?" The redhead called out to her when she was packing up her stuff up to leave for the night. It was nearly six-thirty, and Beca was exhausted. She wanted to get home to her daughter for a small amount of snuggling and to talk to her dad and Sheila about what was going on with Margaret and why she decided to harass Beca outside of her home.

"Yes, Trish." She said, groaning, because she wasn't in the mood for the redhead to attempt to keep her later doing something ridiculous and time consuming. Jesse stilled from where he was pulling on his maroon Trebles' sweatshirt near the door.

"So, I saw that you have off next Friday, but I am going to need you to work." Trish said, smiling sweetly. "Obviously, there was a mistake when Luke made the schedules, because I was supposed to go to the Riff-Off to support Jesse and the Trebles." Beca's eyebrows rose so high on her forehead that they nearly disappeared into her hair.

"So, you want me to take your shift?"

"Well, obviously you were supposed to have it originally, but Luke must have got it mixed up when I put in my request slip for the night off." She shrugged her shoulders and rolled her eyes.

"Sorry, but I can't work on Friday, Trish." The redhead's eyes narrowed.

"Why not?"

"Well, I am going to be at the Riff-Off."

"What?" The redhead spat.

"Yeah, I'm on the Bellas." She said, shrugging her shoulders. "So, I have to be there. If you really want to go to support Jesse, you are going to have to find someone else to cover for you. Maybe the other intern—what's her name? Susie? Lucy? Something like that?" Beca said, turning to look at Jesse for help. He was smiling at her, clearly amused.

"Lucy." He supplied.

"Ahh, Lucy. Right, so you are going to have to ask her."

"I can't believe that Aubrey would have let you on the Bellas. You aren't exactly Bella material." Trish said as she looked up and down Beca's body. "I mean, she should have picked me to be in the group, not you. I look like Bella material." She said, waving her hand along her body. Beca scoffed, rolling her eyes.

"Well, I have known Aubrey since we were young, so I know her pretty well. She picks people who have talent to be in the Bellas. You might look like the slutty cheerleader that the Bellas used to aspire to look like, but you probably have no talent, which would explain why she didn't pick you." Trish's face scrunched up in disgust and hurt. "I am a really good singer, and I make awesome song mixes—you know, _talent_—which is why she chose me to be in the Bellas. Oh, and I am also her step-sister and one of Chloe's best friends."

"Whatever." She spat, turning on her heel and storming off.

"Beca Mitchell, I swear to God, we are destined to be together forever and ever." Beca rolled her eyes when Jesse walked over to wrap an arm around her. "Seriously, you are one of those aca-girls, and I am one of those aca-boys. We are going to get aca-married and have lots of aca-babies together."

"Oh, really? Because, I already have one of those aca-babies, and she is a lot of work. Are you sure you are ready for that kind of responsibility?" She asked him sweetly before pulling away from him.

"Ehh, she's for practice." He said jokingly, which made Beca punch him the stomach. He blew out all of his breath and bent over, gripping his stomach. "Shit…I was kidding."

"Yeah, well, I wasn't. You can ask Aubrey, Donald, and Chloe. The last three years have been rough. I think that Aubrey was prepared to start popping out babies the moment she graduated from college, but after helping out with Mel these last few years, she realized that babies are a lot of work. She and Donald have decided that they aren't ready for their own kids anytime soon."

"Relax, Beca." He muttered, rolling his eyes and nudging her shoulder with his. "I am sure that it was hard, but just know you aren't going to scare me away." He added before he headed in the opposite direction from her. He grinned and gave her one last wave before he disappeared from her sight.

* * *

It turns out that Trish was able to get Lucy to cover for her, so she was there to show her support for Jesse and to throw dirty looks at Beca during the Riff-Off that following Friday night. Beca was still actively avoiding her mother at all costs, but Margaret had yet to stop trying to call Beca or to show up at the house. According to her dad, Margaret wanted talk to Beca about something important, but what it was, she wouldn't tell Daniel. Beca was mentally exhausted, and she wanted Margaret to get it into her head that she wanted nothing to do with her.

The entire night, Jesse sang to her and mouthed to her that the Bellas were going down. She acted like she didn't care, but she secretly wanted to put him in his place. Aubrey almost had a heart attack when the second category they were to pick songs about sex. Stacie and Cynthia Rose started them out strong, and because Stacie was a tramp, she easily pulled out more songs about sex.

"_And I guess it's just the woman in you  
That brings out the man in me  
I know I can't help myself  
You're all in the world to me."_

When Jesse began singing Foreigner, she rolled her eyes because he was obviously singing towards her. She made a show of whispering her song idea into Cynthia Rose and Stacie's ears. The girls nodded excitedly, squealing and whispering to the rest of the girls, whereas Beca blew a kiss towards him, which made him grin as he was singing.

"_It feels like the first time  
Feels like the very first time  
It feels like the first time  
It feels like the very first time_."

As he began singing the chorus, Beca, Amy, Stacie made their way up. Before Jesse could start the next verse of the song, Cynthia Rose and Stacie cut him off, singing the beginning of Katy Perry's _Peacock_. The audience began to laugh, but Jesse just stared at Beca, a suggestive grin slipping onto his face. She shrugged, winking. She stepped up to begin the first verse of the song.

"_**I wanna see your peacock, cock, cock  
Your peacock, cock  
Your peacock, cock, cock  
Your peacock  
I wanna see your peacock, cock, cock  
Your peacock, cock  
Your peacock, cock, cock  
Your peacock**_

"Word on the street,  
You got somethin' to show me, me  
Magical, colorful, Mr. Mystery-ee  
I'm intrigued for a peek,  
Heard it's fascinating

"Come on, baby  
Let me see  
What'chu hidin' underneath

"What's up your sleeve  
Such a tease  
Wanna see the show-oh  
In 3D, a movie  
Heard it's beautiful  
Be the judge  
And my girls gonna take a vote

"Come on, baby  
Let me see  
What'chu hidin' underneath

"_I want the jaw droppin', eye poppin', head turnin', body shockin'_  
Oh, oh, ee-oh, oh, oh, ee-oh  
_I want my heart throbbin', ground shakin', shoe stompin', amazin'_  
Oh, oh, ee-oh, oh, oh, ee-oh

"_Are you brave enough to let me see your peacock?_  
_Don't be a chicken, boy_  
_Stop acting like a biatch_  
_I'm a peace out if you don't give me the pay off_

"Come on, baby  
Let me see  
What'chu hidin' underneath

"**Are you brave enough to let me see your peacock?  
What'chu waiting for  
It's time for you to show it off  
Don't be a shy kinda guy  
I'll bet it's beautiful**

"Come on, baby  
Let me see  
What'chu hidin' underneath

"_**I wanna see your peacock, cock, cock  
Your peacock, cock  
Your peacock, cock, cock  
Your peacock  
I wanna see your peacock, cock, cock  
Your peacock, cock  
Your peacock, cock, cock  
Your peacock**_

"Skip the talk; heard it all  
Time to walk the walk  
Break me off; if your bad,  
Show me who's the boss  
Need some goose to get loose  
Come on take a shot

"Come on, baby  
Let me see  
What'chu hidin' underneath

"_I want the jaw droppin', eye poppin', head turnin', body shockin'_  
Oh, oh, ee-oh, oh, oh, ee-oh  
_I want my heart throbbin', ground shakin', shoe stompin', amazin'_  
Oh, oh, ee-oh, oh, oh, ee-oh

"_Are you brave enough to let me see your peacock?_  
_Don't be a chicken, boy_  
_Stop acting like a biatch_  
_I'm a peace out if you don't give me the pay off_

"Come on, baby  
Let me see  
What'chu hidin' underneath

"**Are you brave enough to let me see your peacock?  
What'chu waiting for  
It's time for you to show it off  
Don't be a shy kinda guy  
I'll bet it's beautiful**

"Come on, baby  
Let me see  
What'chu hidin' underneath

"_**I wanna see your peacock, cock, cock  
Your peacock, cock  
Your peacock, cock, cock  
Your peacock, cock**_

"Oh, my God; no exaggeration  
Boy, all this time was worth the waiting  
I just shed a tear  
I am so unprepared  
You got the finest architecture  
End of the rainbow looking treasure  
Such a sight to see  
And it's all for me

"_Are you brave enough to let me see your peacock?_  
_Don't be a chicken, boy_  
_Stop acting like a biatch_  
_I'm a peace out if you don't give me the pay off_

"Come on, baby  
Let me see  
What'chu hidin' underneath

"**Are you brave enough to let me see your peacock?  
What'chu waiting for  
It's time for you to show it off  
Don't be a shy kinda guy  
I'll bet it's beautiful**

"Come on, baby  
Let me see  
What'chu hidin' underneath

"_**I wanna see your peacock, cock, cock  
Your peacock, cock  
Your peacock, cock, cock  
Your peacock  
I wanna see your peacock, cock, cock  
Your peacock, cock  
Your peacock, cock, cock  
Your peacock**_

"Come on, baby  
Let me see  
What'chu hidin' underneath."

The entire time that the girls were singing, they danced seductively against each other, primarily with Stacie and Cynthia Rose pairing off and Chloe and Beca pairing off. Beca was surprised that everyone had let the girls sing the entire song, because usually someone cut the song off. No one did cut them off, though, so the girls kept singing. The entire time, Jesse just stared at her with an amused look on his face and his arms crossed. At the end of the song, be started clapping, shaking his head as he laughed. Soon enough the entire audience (minus Trish, who was certainly not pleased) cheered for and applauded the Bellas. Beca bowed, saying to the Trebles (and, Jesse in particular), "I mean you're welcome." They all cheered excitedly when the Bellas won. The girls banded together, hugging and screaming out of excitement. Over Fat Amy's shoulder, Beca saw Jesse leave the guys, staring towards her. With a nod of his head, he invited her over to talk to him.

"Beca, you're toner for Jesse is showing," Aubrey whispered in her ear, nudging her shoulder. Beca narrowed her eyes at her step-sister.

"What the fuck is a toner?"

"A musical boner." Chloe added, looking towards Jesse who was waiting patiently for Beca to come to him. "You should go to him. Your parents have Mel tonight. Aubrey is going to go with Donald to the Treble house, and I am going to Evan's apartment. You could borrow our place tonight. Bring Jesse by…have some alone time." She said, winking at the brunette.

"Why doesn't Aubrey invite Donald to your apartment then? I am not having sex in either one of your beds." She said, smacking Chloe's upper arm. Chloe giggled, poking Beca in the stomach.

"Because Aubrey is going to shower Donald with lots of sympathy loving, and he likes to show off to the guys how much of a freak Aubrey is in bed."

"Ewww!" Beca muttered, covering her ears. At the same time, Aubrey screeched "Shut up! THAT SO ISN'T TRUE!"

"Seriously! Chloe!" Beca muttered, releasing her ears.

"Donald has trouble sleeping on beds that aren't his own. We never spend the night at my apartment." Aubrey explained.

"That is weird, Aubrey." Beca supplied. "That is beyond weird. Thank you for that ammo!" She winked.

"Oh, Beca. You can't say anything about that to him." Aubrey pouted.

"Hey, Beca, you better go grab your man before that ginger over there steals him." Chloe added, pointed towards Jesse. "I usually stand by my ginger-sisters, but you have got to get rid of her if you want to keep her grubby paws off of Jesse."

"He's not my man." Beca muttered, looking over at Jesse and Trish. She rolled her eyes. "He is allowed to be with whoever he wants. Besides, he has already slept with Trish." She told them, shrugging her shoulders.

"Why does her name sound familiar?" Aubrey asked.

"How do you know that he has slept with that ginger?" Chloe asked at the same time.

"She auditioned for the Bellas. You denied her." Beca told Aubrey, and then she turned to Chloe. "I guessed. She is all over him all of the time, so I guessed. He tried to deny it, but it isn't all that hard to see."

"So, that doesn't bother you?" Chloe asked. "Look at them. She is like two seconds away from blowing him in the middle of a crowd of people!" Beca rolled her eyes.

"We are just friends."

"That is complete bullshit!" Chloe and Aubrey said at the same time. Beca looked between them, eyebrows raised.

"That was creepy." She told them. "Well, I am going to go. I am exhausted, and I am probably the only sober one here now. I am just going to head home and probably climb into Mel's kiddy-bed." It sometimes took her by surprise how much she missed Mel when she wasn't around. Right now, Beca wanted nothing more than to wrap her arms around Mel and breathe in her smell. Mel had the most amazing smell—the best smell Beca had ever come across. The second best smell Beca had ever come across was Jesse's smell. Wait, she can't think like that. She ran a hand through her hair. "Right, so I…bye!" She waved goodbye to the girls and quickly made her way towards the stairs to climb out of the pool. Fuck, she didn't know how anyone of these people would get out considering how drunk they were.

"Beca! Hey! Wait!" She had made it out of the pool by the time he caught up to her. She turned around, plastering a fake smile on her face.

"Jesse, hi. So, I see you extracted yourself from Trish." Beca said, running a hand through her hair. "Sorry you guys lost. Better luck next time."

"Yeah, well, there was no way in hell that we were going to win when you a bunch of girls start gyrating against each other while singing about wanting to see a guy's _peacock_." The look on Jesse's face made her blush. She knew that the song would drive him nuts, which was funny at the time, but now she was embarrassed and feeling awkward. "What inspired you to pull that song out?" He asked after a few moments. He said it slowly, drawing the words out, as he grabbed her hand, interlacing their fingers. She glanced down at their hands. Shit, was the only word that went through her head.

"It was about sex…and I thought it was funny." Beca said after a moment, biting her lip. She was afraid that her voice was too breathy—like Trish's—and she prayed that he didn't notice.

"You thought it was funny?" He said quietly, taking a step closer to her. Beca didn't take her eyes off of their hands, watching the way that he gently ran his thumb along the top of hers. She felt his eyes on her face, and she knew that he was looking for any sign that she would welcome him kissing her. She couldn't do it. She couldn't let him kiss her. She needed to step away from him. She needed to pull her hand away from his. She needed to create some distance between them, because she had Mel to think about. Fuck, she had her own heart to think about.

"Yeah, it is a completely ridiculous song." She muttered as she pulled her hand from his. "I have to go." She took a step back, regaining her personal space and her ability to breathe. She looked up at him then, ignoring the way that his jaw ticked from disappointment.

"Where's Mel tonight?"

"She's with my parents." Beca told him honestly. "They bought her a new bed when we moved into my parents' guest house that Aubrey lived in during her senior year of high school and freshman year of college. That way if there were ever nights that I needed them to babysit for her, she could just sleep there over night."

"So, you are going to go to your little guest house all alone?"

"Well, they also bought me a new bed, so I have my old one in guest room turned my room turned guest room in the main house. In all honesty, I am probably just going to climb into bed with Mel. I miss her." Beca smiled, thinking of her little girl. "It freaks me out how much I love that kid. When the doctors finally let me hold her—I was only thirty-six weeks along when I went into labor with her and she had to spend five weeks in the NICU—it was like I was home." Beca closed her eyes, thinking of that moment. "Seriously, she weighed seven and a half pounds, and she smelled so good. You know how people make jokes about wanting to eat their children? I can totally understand it. She has the best smell. It almost pains me to be away from her." She opened her eyes, blushing in embarrassment for acting like a total cheese-ball mom in front of him. He was smiling at her—not one of his cheeky or suggestive grins, either. No, he was smiling at her like she was the most amazing person that he had ever seen.

"It's nice to hear you talk about her." He said after a moment. "It is the way that you talk about her that makes me look forward to kids. I always knew that I wanted to have kids, but hearing you talk about her…I don't know how to explain it. It kind of destroyed any doubts about it."

"It is a lot of hard work. Nothing can prepare you for taking care of a kid until you have one. No matter what you think it is going to be like, it is completely different. It is amazing, but different." She wasn't trying to scare him away by saying this. This was just her honest opinion about it.

"I like you, Beca." He whispered as he put his hands on her hips, gently pulling her against him. Her eyes drifted shut when her face hit the crook of his neck.

"Jesse," she said, shaking her head. "We can't." He groaned, tightening his hold on her by wrapping his arms around her waist. She made no move to pull away from him though.

"I know you are scared, but I don't want to hurt you or Mel." He said into her ear, his breath tickling her. She froze, because she tried so hard to keep her fears about getting hurt from him. But, Jesse could read her like a book. He knew when she was upset, so she should have known that he would be able to read her fear of getting hurt, too. "Go on one date with me? Please?"

Beca tried to pull away from him, but Jesse wouldn't release his hold on her waist. She was able to move far enough back to look into his face. "I can't." She whispered, frowning and looking away from him. "I'm a mess, Jesse. You don't want me. You shouldn't want me. I'm broken and fucked up. I would be a terrible girlfriend."

"It's a good thing that I'm only asking for a date then." She pushed at his chest, trying to pull away from him. "Beca, I will stop all of this if you can seriously say to my face that you don't like me as anything more than a friend." Beca's eyes locked with Jesse's, and as much as her head tried to tell her to say the words, she couldn't. It was all too much. She liked him so much, and they barely knew each other. He was so different from Shane, and he scared the shit out of her.

"I'm not ready, Jesse." She said after a few moments. "I need you to be my friend, because I am not ready for anything more than that." It had been nearly four years since the last time she had a date, let alone been anyone's girlfriend.

"Okay," Jesse said, nodding his head. "I'll wait." He released her waist, taking a step back from her.

"Thank you." She smiled at him. "I have to go."

"Give your little girl a big kiss for me. I will see you on Monday?" He asked her. She nodded her head.

"Have fun with whatever groupie you decide to work out your frustrations with." She said, looking away from him. He grabbed her chin, turning her face so that she could look into his eyes.

"I told you, I will wait. For you." He leaned forward, pressing a light kiss to her forehead. She took a deep breath before turning and walking away from the party towards her car. She drove home carefully, trying to wrap her head around the night's events. She and Jesse nearly kissed. She and Jesse had nearly taken their relationship from friendship to something more. Part of her wished that she felt safe enough to see what could happen with him, but the other part of her was so relieved that she had Mel to worry about and protect. The feelings she was already developing for him were beyond any that she had ever experienced—even with Shane.

Beca turned her phone on silent, stopping in her house to get changed, brush her teeth, and wash her face before she made her way into the main house. It was only midnight, and she could hear the soft sounds from some late night talk show coming from her parents' room. She snuck through the hallway, careful not to disturb them or Mel. She sent a text to her dad, saying that she was sleeping with Mel and that she was home. She noticed that she had quite a few messages on her phone. She carefully opened the door to Mel's room, smiling when she saw the small girl curled up in a ball in the twin bed that mesh walls on either side of it to make sure the little girl didn't tumble out of it and onto the floor. She carefully climbed over one of the sides and tucked herself against Mel, who immediately rolled over and latched onto her like a baby monkey. Beca glanced at the text messages on her phone after making sure that Mel was still sound asleep.

There were several text messages from the Bellas. Fat Amy and Stacie had sent texts about how hot she and Jesse looked; both wondered whether she was going to fuck him sideways that night (and quite a few even vulgar suggestions, as well, that were quite disgusting in Beca's opinion). Chloe texted her that she better get it in. Aubrey texted that they looked really cute together. Donald texted that he hoped to _not_ see Jesse at the Trebles' house that night. Then, all of them texted her about why she left Jesse. None of them understood why she didn't just take a leap and let Jesse in (or fuck him silly—from Amy and Stacie). The final text she received almost gave her a heart attack. She quickly turned off her phone and dropped it onto the carpet beside the bed after she read it. Her arms tightened around the little girl in the bed beside her.

The text had read: _Hey, Beca. Your mom said that your number is still the same one from four years ago. I am just writing you to know that I moved to Atlanta. I want to see you. I think it is time that I meet my daughter. I want to be involved in her life. After all, every little girl needs her daddy, right? Talk to you soon._

Beca pressed a kiss to the top of Mel's head, running her hand through the little girl's soft locks. "I won't let him anywhere near you, Minnie Mouse." She whispered to the dark room. "I am going to keep you safe, my little angel." She clamped her eyes shut and willed herself not to cry. She was going to protect Mel at all costs. What the hell did Shane and her mother want?


	5. Chapter 5

**Unbroken**

**Chapter 5**

**A**_** Pitch Perfect **_**Story**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything familiar.**

**Song Recommendation: **_**Me, Myself, and Time**_** by Demi Lovato**

**Author's Note: I hope you all really like this chapter. I feel like Beca is starting to go a little more AU from what she was like in the movie, but I hope that it has been a steady progression into who I think she would once she has gotten close to a guy that she has feelings for and with a child. I hope that it didn't seem too abrupt. At the same time, she is definitely holding herself back because of all the hurt that she has been through. Anyways, I hope that you enjoy it, especially because instead of making my presentation and typing up a script for a therapy session with a family for my Child in the Family Context class, I wrote half of this chapter. I hate to be one of those annoying authors, but I would love it if you all told me what you thought about this chapter. I have so many follows/views/favorites, but the reviews are still pretty low. I would love to know what you like, don't like, et cetera. Please just be nice about it; I appreciate critiques but if all you are going to say is 'I don't like this story,' then you don't have to leave it in a review. Anyways, without further ado, the next chapter!**

* * *

Beca finally decided to meet with Margaret in order to stop the constant onslaught of calls, texts, and drop-bys at the Mitchell house. She didn't speak to the woman, but she texted her about meeting at a coffee shop near the campus. It was mid-morning on Monday, and she had just gotten out of her morning class. She had a shift at the radio station in an hour and a half, which would give her a good-enough excuse to leave if things weren't going well with Margaret. She was sitting at a table facing the door, so that she could be prepared when the woman that used to be her mother walked through the door. She was sipping a black coffee with a dash of cream. A textbook was open in front of her, and she was highlighting as she read about Freud. She couldn't decide if she thought Freud was a total asshole or if he made some pretty interesting points—the feminist in her thought he was a total douche bag, but there had to be something to the idea of people be ruled by their sex drive. Most guys thought with their dicks and not their brains—hell, Stacie was ruled by her vagina, which she called a dude. The bell above the door jingled, and Beca's eyes rose. She took a deep breath as she capped her highlighter and shut her textbook, shoving it into her schoolbag that was lying on the floor. The chair across from her slid out, and the very posh Margaret Hurston (the moment the divorce from Daniel had finalized, Margaret changed her name back to her maiden name). She was dressed in a smart navy business suit, her dark blonde hair cut into an angled bob, and a pair of brown tortoise-shell sunglass perched on top of her head. Her smile was pinched and obviously faked, and Beca didn't know what the hell she could possibly want.

"Rebecca, darling," she said, laying her purse on the table. She raised two fingers toward the bored college students standing behind the counter.

"Um, no one is going to wait on you. If you want a coffee, you are going to have to walk up there." Beca told her, sipping her coffee. Margaret rolled her eyes, her fake eyelashes fluttering, as she sighed loudly. She stood up and made her way to the counter. Beca took a deep breath, sending a text to her dad about wishing she had never agreed to this. She sent similar texts to Aubrey, Sheila, and Jesse (the only non-family member that knew what was going on with her mother). Jesse didn't know about the text from Shane, though, because she didn't know what to do about that yet. She was afraid of what his reaction to it would be. She had explained to him how Shane had pulled her in just by his devil-may-care attitude, sexy alternative-vibe, and tattoos. He would probably stab himself in the eye with a pen or something to know that Shane was now _living in Atlanta_. She let out a breath. One of the things that she planned on addressing with Margaret was her communication with Shane—considering she was definitely not his biggest fan when he and Beca were dating.

Margaret returned to the table, a latte of some kind in her hand. She sat down, gingerly crossing her legs. "You look…nice," she said, looking over Beca's outfit of black skinny jeans, sneakers, and a gray tank top with a red and gray plaid shirt unbuttoned over top, her dark eye makeup, and her unkempt hair. Beca tightened her grip on her coffee cup. "I am sure that it must be hard to find time to get your haircut. Or, that you don't have enough money. With a child and all." Margaret sniffed. "You would think that Daniel would loan you fifteen dollars to go to the cheap salon chains and to take time out of his 'busy' class schedule to babysit the child so that you could get a decent hair cut." She glanced at Beca's hands. "And a manicure." Beca's jaw tightened.

"You wouldn't know what my father has or has not done for me and my daughter. Melody. Her name is Melody, by the way." Margaret took a sip of her drink and narrowed her eyes towards Beca. "What the hell do you want, Margaret?"

"Seriously, Beca, you can't be the tiniest bit pleasant? I have spent the last week attempting to get in contact with you, and I even took time off this week in order to drive down here to visit with you. The least you could do is be somewhat appreciative."

"Appreciative? What do I have to be appreciative about? Your abandonment of me? The fact that you told me that I was disgusting when you found out I was pregnant? The fact that you kicked me out of the house? The fact that you said you never wanted to see me again? Which one of those should I be appreciative of?" Margaret just stared at Beca for a while. Beca took a sip of her coffee and glared at her mother. "What do you want?"

"I ran into one of your old friends and her mother. Karen? Cara? Carol? Whatever it was." She said, rolling her eyes and waving it off with a flick of her hand.

"Kyra," Beca told her.

"Kyra," Margaret said, drumming her fake fingernails across the tabletop. "Well, Kyra and her mother talked about how they hadn't spoken to you in years. They had no idea what had happened to you. I was so relieved that you didn't tell people about the child." Margaret said, taking a sip of coffee. "I would have been so ashamed to have to talk about it. Anyways, I told them you had moved in with your father and were attending college down here. Your father has been kind enough to send me emails about your life over the last three and a half years. I wish that he would refrain from discussing the child, but I just ignore those portions of the email." Beca stood up, and Margaret looked up at her in surprise. "What are you doing?"

"I am not going to sit here and listen to you badmouth my daughter. She is the best thing that has ever happened to me, and I do not regret for one second that I had her. She is my entire world, and you made a huge mistake choosing to not be involved in her life. Now, I am leaving."

"Beca, sit down." Margaret said harshly, her voice low and tight. Beca glared at her. "Look, I'm sorry that I did not jump for joy when I learned that my only daughter was having a child out of wedlock. You have to understand that it was a huge surprise."

"Yeah, well, it was a surprise for me. It was a surprise for Dad. It was a surprise for Sheila. It was a surprise for everyone who stepped up and stood by me—everyone who supported me and loved me and helped me care for Mel after her birth. Just because she wasn't planned doesn't mean that she should be viewed as dog shit on your shoe."

"Do you use that language around the child? I hope not." Margaret said, not batting an eye at Beca's response. "Sit down." Beca stared at her for a moment.

"I want to know what the hell you are doing here, Margaret. Then, I want you to leave me alone." She sat down in the chair, taking a sip of her cooling coffee.

"As I was saying before you so rudely interrupted me," Margaret said, rolling her eyes. "Anyways, after I ran into Kyra and her mother, I got to thinking about how we hadn't spoken in sometime. I realized that there was so much that I needed to share with you about my life." She held her left hand out towards Beca, a huge diamond glittering on her third finger. Beca just stared at her. "Well, aren't you going to congratulate me? I am marrying a man named Antonio. He is from Italy, a business man. My law firm was hired two years ago by his employers to be their legal representatives in the United States. He is terribly handsome with a lovely accent." Beca continued to stare at her. "He is very old-fashioned. He wants to meet my daughter."

"So, that is why you are here. You want me to meet your fiancé?" Beca asked, crossing her arms.

"Well, of course I would love to repair our relationship, darling. It has been far too long since we last spoke." Margaret smiled at her in a way that didn't appear to be genuine in Beca's opinion.

"So, I take it Antonio doesn't like it that his fiancée doesn't speak to her daughter?" Margaret's jaw tensed and her smile faltered slightly.

"Beca, darling, I have missed you. You are my only daughter, and I would love it if you would move home. Pittsburg has lovely schools that you could attend. Carnegie Mellon, Chatham, or the University of Pittsburg, for example. Although none of these schools have a pre-law program, they do have business programs, so you could get a degree in that. You know, take after your step-father, Antonio."

"You can't be serious." Beca said, completely shocked. Margaret just stared at her. "I have a kid, Margaret. I can't move her from the only home she has ever known to Pittsburg so that I could live with you and Antonio—complete strangers. The only time I plan on moving her is after I graduate in four years—from Barden, Margaret, not some Pittsburg school—is to LA where I plan on working in the music industry. Which is what I want to do. I want to produce music. Not be a lawyer. Not go into business. I want to produce music."

"Oh, honey," Margaret said, rolling her eyes. "You know that is a pipe dream, right? You can't honestly believe that you are going to be able to get a job producing music."

"Um, not at first. I will have to work my way from the bottom. I will probably get some crappy job at a radio station or fetching coffees for someone in a studio, but eventually I will be able to work my way up to produce."

"Sweetheart, the likelihood of that happening is almost nonexistent, but if you were to get a job in business or in law, you would be guaranteed a job at either my firm or Antonio's office."

"Margaret," Beca said, slamming her fist on the table. She ignored the curious looks that they were getting from the other patrons. "I am not moving to Pittsburg. I don't care if nothing comes from my attempts to produce music and I am forced to get my master's in music education or something, but I will never move back to Pittsburg." Margaret narrowed her eyes and took a sip of her coffee.

"I just don't understand you, Rebecca. You had such a bright future four years ago, and then you took up with that imbecile and got yourself in trouble. I can hardly recognize you. You are covered in those horrendous tattoos, and that makeup is atrocious. You could be something special, Rebecca, but instead you continue to destroy your life like this. Music production? Having a child out of wedlock? Honestly, I can't believe that you haven't started drinking heavily or doing drugs. Your life is out of control."

"If Shane is such an imbecile, then why did you tell him that my number hasn't changed in the last three and a half years?"

"Well, obviously you couldn't bring the child with you to Pittsburg, darling, because a child out of wedlock is not appropriate and shameful. Antonio would probably have a heart attack if he found out that you had a child. So, I ran into its' father. I told him that you were living in Atlanta with his child. I encouraged him to move down here so that he could get to know the child. Perhaps if things work out, then you could move back to Pittsburg with me after your first year is complete, and the child could live with its father." Beca stared at the woman in disbelief. She couldn't be serious.

"Fuck you, Margaret. I want nothing to do with you or Antonio. Stop calling me. Stop texting me. Stop showing up at my home. Stop all communication with my father. Stop everything. _You disgust me_. _I never want to see you again_." Beca spat the same words that Margaret had said to her all of those years ago. She grabbed her bag off the floor and stood up, slamming the chair back into the table. She grabbed her empty coffee cup and threw it out in the trash can on her way out the door.

* * *

Beca was beyond fuming by the time that she arrived at the station an hour later. She had spent the last hour at the preschool just holding Mel in her arms, as well as playing and eating lunch with her. She had stopped at one of the campus cafés for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, an apple, and a bottle of grape juice. When she walked through the door, Jesse took one look at her and pulled her back into the hallway, away from the peering eyes of Luke and Connor. She pulled away from him, pacing in the tight space, spewing off curse words over and over again. "Beca, calm down. What happened at the coffee shop?"

"I can't believe the nerve of that fucking bitch. How dare she say any of that to me?!" Beca spat, punching her hand with her fist. "I want to hit something. God, where is Trish when I need her?!" She turned and faced Jesse. "Can I punch you?"

"As much fun as it would be to see you punch Trish or for you to beat the crap out of me, I think we are going to have to pass on both of those." Jesse grabbed Beca by her upper arms, stilling her so that she was facing him. "What happened?" Beca stared at him for a moment before she started sobbing, wrapping her arms around his waist. She buried her face into his neck.

"She said the most horrible things about Mel." She moaned into his neck, and he just rubbed her back, urging her to tell him what happened. "I don't care about anything else she said—the insults about my appearance and towards my dad; the fact that I won't get a job in LA and that I will never get a job as a music producer. None of that is important, but it was the fact that she said that Mel was shameful and inappropriate. She said that Mel ruined my life. Mel is my whole world—the best thing that ever happened to me, and that bitch had the nerve to insult her. She acted like she knew what was right when she hadn't been around for the last three and a half years."

"Oh, Beca," Jesse tightened his hold on her, burying his face into her hair. "She is a huge bitch. Don't listen to her about any of it. You are an amazing person, and Mel is beyond lucky to have you as her mom. Ignore everything that she said." Beca felt her phone buzz in her back pocket. She pulled away from him to glance at it. The message was from Shane. She sucked in a deep breath when she read it. _Hey, so, I haven't heard from you yet. I thought I would try you again. Your mom just texted me and said that things didn't exactly go as planned between the two of you. I just wanted to let you know that I still want to be involved in my daughter's life. Please meet with me. I want to talk._ Beca pressed a hand to her forehead as she shoved the phone back into her pocket. "You okay?" Jesse's voice made her jump, and she looked up at his concerned face. She didn't know why she suddenly felt guilty. She had to tell him the rest of what had happened.

"Margaret told me that she was engaged, which is why she decided to seek me out. She wants me to move back to Pittsburg with her and her fiancé, Antonio. She wants me to move back alone." She licked her bottom lip, wiping at the tears on her cheeks, hoping that she didn't have total raccoon eyes going on at the moment.

"What about Mel? Are you supposed to leave her with your dad?" Jesse said, rolling his eyes. Beca shook her head, looking down at her feet as she mumbled the answer to him.

"Shane. I was supposed to leave Mel with Shane—her dad." She felt his eyes on her. "I wasn't the only person that Margaret sought out. She found Shane, and she convinced him to move to Atlanta. He texted me the night of the Riff-Off, and he said that he wanted to meet his daughter. He just texted me again that my mom told him things didn't go according to her plan, but he said that he still wanted to be involved in his daughter's life. He asked me to meet with him."

"You have got to be fucking kidding me?" Jesse spat, running a hand through his hair. Beca glanced up at him, seeing the anger and confusion slip onto his face. "You told him no, right?" He stared at Beca, who just bit her bottom lip. "Right, Beca? You said no."

"I didn't respond to him." She said, pulling at the bottom of her shirt.

"Look at how well that worked out with your mom," Jesse said, rolling his eyes. "You have to text him back now and say no."

"It's not that simple, Jesse." She said, pressing a hand to her forehead.

"It is that simple, Beca. You just pull out your phone, click on reply, type two letters—N and O—and then hit send. See? It will take all of five seconds."

"He is her dad, Jesse." Beca shook her head. "He is on her birth certificate. She shares half of his DNA. He could easily pass a paternity test, and he could make this beyond awful for me if he decided to go to court and pursue his legal right as her parent. If I do it this way, then maybe I could limit the fallout." Jesse turned around and punched the wall. Beca yelped, covering her mouth with her hands.

"Fuck! They don't tell you how much that shit hurts in the movies," Jesse complained, shaking his hand and rubbing it with the fingers of his left hand.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Beca said, grabbing his hand. He winced and sucked in a breath. "Good! I hope it hurts, you idiot." She ran her fingers over his hand, making sure there weren't any broken bones or something. "It doesn't look broken, but you might want to make an appointment at the infirmary to make sure. You could have seriously hurt yourself, you fucking idiot!" She said, punching him in the arm several times. Jesse grabbed her wrists, holding them together in his hands in front of her.

"Stop hitting me!" He muttered. "I'm sorry that I did that. I just got pissed. I can't believe you are just going to let him waltz in three years too late when you wouldn't even let me in, and I'm actually a nice guy." Beca stepped forward, laying her right hand on his chest, over his heart.

"Jesse, he is her dad, and he has every legal right to be involved in her life. If I do this…if I actually control when and how he meets her, as well as how often they interact, then I can limit the amount of damage that this all might cause. I want to meet with him a few times before I let him anywhere near her, because I need to make sure that he isn't just going to bail on her and fuck her up." She dug her fingers into his shirt, pulling him closer to her body. "I don't want him, Jesse." She looked up at him. "He broke my heart. He really screwed me up when I was fifteen and scared and pregnant." She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him into a tight hug. Her face was buried in his neck, and his fingertips were digging into her hipbones. She felt him take a breath when she whispered her next words against his throat, her hot breath tickling his skin. "There's no contest between him and you. I would choose you every time. I just wish that I wasn't so messed up after everything that happened with him and my mom." She took a deep breath, breathing in the smell that she could only describe as _Jesse_.

"You're not fucked up, Beca," he mumbled into her hair as he tightened his hold on her hips. He pulled far enough back to look into her eyes. "Maybe meeting with him will help you get over the history you two have. Well, I doubt you will ever be able to get over it, but maybe you will be able to learn to live with it. Then, you and I can put all this bullshit aside and finally be together like we both want." Beca clamped her eyes shut, and she looked away. She would love to be able to put aside all of the crap—all of her insecurities and fears—and just succumb to her feelings for Jesse, but it was daunting. She didn't know if she could handle it if she lost him—because everything she was feeling for him now was beyond what she had felt for Shane ever in their four months together. "Yeah, yeah…I know that look. That is your signature look that screams, 'you're freaking me out, Swanson; lay off the relationship talk.'" One of the corners of Beca's lips inched up, and she gave him a sad half-smile.

"I need time, Jesse." He nodded his head before leaning down to press a light kiss to her cheek. His lips were warm and soft, and she wanted nothing more than to pull his face back to hers so that they could properly kiss.

"We better get in there before Luke fires us." He jerked his thumb over his shoulder. Beca began rubbing at her cheeks, groaning. "You look fine, Beca. No running makeup or anything like that." She smiled appreciatively at him before she pushed past him and into the station.

It was ten after twelve, and she and Jesse were scheduled to work until seven, with Aubrey and Chloe picking Mel up after their afternoon class to hang out with her in their apartment. Beca hated missing dinner with Mel, but she needed the money and a long shift on Mondays meant shorter shifts later in the week and weekends off (except for the occasional weeknight event that required her to change which nights she worked on). Luke and Connor had been at the station from seven in the morning, so they left at two. Morgan, the other junior DJ, came in at two and was on until closing, which was at ten since it was a Monday, and it was never really busy or popular on Mondays. Since Jesse and Beca were leaving at seven, Lucy was scheduled to work from three until ten that night. Beca was just relieved that she didn't have to work with Trish that day, because she probably would have wound up murdering the redhead after the day that she had. At five-thirty, Jesse and Lucy went to pick up dinner for the four of them—they had all put in money for Chinese. Jesse had tried to get Beca to go with him, but she didn't want to worry about Shane or Margaret catching up with her around the campus. Morgan was playing some shitty, bubblegum pop song.

Beca walked over to the door of the booth and reached up to turn down the music in the storage area of the station where she was working. She headed over to the desk and pulled out her laptop and portable speakers that she always carried with her in her schoolbag. She set them up on the desk and opened her iTunes, looking through her playlists. Beca contemplated what to play; she could play one of her mixes that were already finished, or she could listen to songs and try to get inspiration for her next mix. She settled on doing individual songs, and she set up her iTunes to play scramble her songs. She then went about her work, listening to the songs. The instrumental part of the fourth song that came on made her pause. She smiled, realizing how perfect the song was for what she was feeling at this point in time. The last month had really fucked with her, and she figured that it would only get worse as time went on, especially when she would start meeting with Shane. She began to sing along with Demi Lovato as she stacked CDs on the shelf.

"_I can make the rain stop if I wanna  
Just by my attitude  
I can take my laptop, record a snapshot  
And change a point-of-view_

"_I just entered this brand new world  
And, I'm so open-hearted  
I know I got a long way to go, but I'm  
I'm just getting started_

"_I'm over my head  
And I know it; I know it  
I'm doing my best  
Not to show it, to show it  
Whatever it takes to be  
What I was meant to be  
I'm gonna try_

"_Cause I'm living the dream  
And I know it; I know it  
I'm trying my best  
Not to blow it, to blow it  
And I know everything will be fine  
With me, myself, and time (and time, and time, time...)_."

As Beca sang along to the song, she swayed her hips in time to the music.

"_I go where life takes me  
But some days it makes me  
Wanna change my direction  
Sometimes it gets lonely  
But I know that it's only  
A matter of my perception_

"_I just entered this brand new world  
And I'm so open hearted  
I know I got a long way to go, but I'm  
I'm just getting started_

"_I'm over my head  
And I know it; I know it  
I'm doing my best  
Not to show it, to show it  
Whatever it takes to be  
What I was meant to be  
I'm gonna try_

"_Cause I'm living the dream  
And I know it; I know it  
I'm trying my best  
Not to blow it, to blow it  
And I know everything will be fine  
With me, myself, and time_

"_And baby, there's nothing like this moment  
To just be real and let the truth be spoken  
Whatever's broke I can make it unbroken  
Turn the light in my head into something golden  
Just try  
If I just try  
More love  
If I just try  
More love  
Then I'll find, myself, in time."_

Beca screamed when someone grabbed her hand when she finished placing a CD onto the shelf. She found herself being pulled into Jesse's chest, and she hit him half-heartedly when he spun her in a circle before dipping her. She rolled her eyes, letting him dance around with her.

"_I'm over my head  
And I know it; I know it  
I'm doing my best  
Not to show it, to show it  
Whatever it takes to be  
What I was meant to be  
I'm gonna try."_

When he started singing along to the song in a falsetto, she started laughing. She pulled away from him to grab Lucy's hand who was laughing at the two of them (probably more at Jesse than Beca) as she leaned against the desk near Beca's laptop, recording them on her cell phone. The two of them began dancing along to the song with each other. Beca smiled when Lucy began singing along softly with her; the girl had a pretty good voice, so she planned on suggesting to the girl to audition for the Bellas the following year. She was also going to talk to Aubrey to see if she could convince her to let Lucy into the Bellas this year, since the competition season hadn't started yet. She didn't want to say that to Lucy now, though.

"_I'm over my head  
And I know it; I know it  
I'm doing my best  
Not to show it, to show it  
Whatever it takes to be  
What I was meant to be  
I'm gonna try_

"_Cause I'm living the dream  
And I know it; I know it  
I'm trying my best  
Not to blow it, to blow it  
And I know everything will be fine  
With me, myself, and time_

"_I'll find myself in time  
I know; I'll find myself in time."_

"Beca, you have such an awesome voice." Lucy said. "And, Jesse, you blow Demi out of the water." She said, trying to keep a straight face. Beca laughed, watching as Jesse acted like he was wounded by their treatment of him. He rolled his eyes, walking over to the two of them to wrap an arm around Beca's waist. Morgan had set up the computer to play five songs in a row and exited the booth to join the three of them. She and Lucy dug through the bags of food while Jesse focused his attention on Beca.

"I love your voice." He said into her ear, and Beca glanced up at him, smiling. She rolled her eyes at his smirk. She tried to ignore the way that being this close to him made her feel. She bit her bottom lip, pulling away from him to walk over to the bags of the food when the other two girls had finished grabbing their food.

"I'm starved." Beca said as nonchalantly as she could. She pulled out her vegetable lo mien and spring rolls from what was left in the bag. She opened the lo mien container and stabbed a forkful with the plastic fork in the bottom of the bag. "Yum," she muttered, refusing to look up at Jesse, knowing that he was watching her. She heard his sigh—it was quiet, so Lucy probably didn't even hear it. Jesse walked over to the bags of food, pulling out some pork dish. Beca scoffed at it.

"What?" He briefly glanced up at her as he opened the container and got his chopsticks ready. "It's cute that you can't use chopsticks." He said, pointing a lone chopstick at her before he pinched a mouthful of food with the chopsticks and popped it into his mouth.

"Dude…aren't you Jewish?" He stared at her for a moment. "Also, I can use them, but I am really hungry, so I am just going to use a fork." She added. He rolled his eyes at the latter half of her statement, and she got the feeling that he didn't believe her.

"So?" Jesse's response was geared toward the first half of her statement.

"It's pork." Beca said in a voice that implied that he was stupid. Jesse nodded his head.

"Yeah," he said with a light smile, as if he didn't know what the big deal was that he was Jewish and eating pork. "And?"

"Seriously?" When he didn't say anything, Beca groaned, shaking her head. She turned to Lucy and Morgan. "Seriously?" The two girls just laughed, looking between the two of them.

"What's wrong with my moo shu pork?" Jesse asked her. Beca groaned again, looking over at him; he was smirking, and she realized he just played her. He knew exactly what she was confused about.

"You're an asshole," she told him, pointing her fork at him. "And, you are also a bad Jew." He laughed, shrugging his shoulders and digging into the pork dish with delight. He moaned in pleasure as chewed.

"What's with the rabbit food?" He asked her after he swallowed, pointing to Beca's vegetable lo mien with his chopsticks before returning them to his dish. She scrunched up her nose in disgust when she pointed at his dish.

"Don't eat meat. I had a really bad bout of morning sickness when I was about fourteen weeks pregnant. It was awful. I couldn't keep down any meat. The smell of any kind of meat would send me running to the toilet. Anything else would be fine, but one whiff of chicken or something was killer. So, I developed an aversion to meat. I can smell it and see and be around now without feeling grossed out, but if you were to come near me with that right now, I would probably throw up my lunch on you." She told him seriously, shivering at the thought of meat coming near her mouth.

"That sucks!" He pouted. "I love meat. Who is going to make my meat-laden meals when we are married and have aca-babies together?"

"You have two hands." She said, rolling her eyes. She sighed when he grinned at the fact that she didn't say anything about the fact that he said they were going to get married and have children together. "Also, we aren't getting married or having any kids. I am pretty sure one is enough for me—at least for a very long time."

"You have a kid?" Morgan asked after she finished off her bite of General Tso chicken. She licked a bit of spicy sauce from her lip, staring in surprise at Beca. Lucy didn't say anything, because her mouth was full, but her eyes were wide as she studied Beca.

"Yeah, a daughter. She is three." She said slowly, waiting for the nasty responses.

"Ehh, I hate kids." Morgan muttered. She didn't say anything beyond that, which made Beca think that the older girl just didn't care.

"My cousin had a baby when she was fifteen." Lucy said when she finally swallowed. "She gave him up for adoption. His name was Bryan. His adoptive parents send her pictures and letters and stuff about how he is doing. He's eight now." Beca smiled softly.

"Your cousin was really brave and selfless." She gathered more lo mien on her fork. "In the back of my mind, I know that if I had been smarter and less selfish for Mel, I would have done the same thing. It was hard having a baby at sixteen. I had five amazing people helping me out, but it was still hard to be a mom." She looked at the food in her hands. "I got lucky with Mel and my family. These last three years wouldn't have been possible or have gone as smoothly if it weren't for them. A big part of me knows that her life would have been easier or better if she had two parents who could love her and support her in the way that a teen mom never could have. But, I was too selfish to give her up." She meant every word of it, but she left out how much happier Beca had become when she had Mel. She knew that the words made Lucy feel good about her cousin and her decision to give the baby up for adoption—she didn't want the girl to think that Beca thought ill of her cousin for making that choice.

Having a kid isn't for everyone—especially not teenagers—so she didn't fault anyone who decided to terminate a pregnancy or to give the baby up for adoption. It was that woman's body and choice to what she pleased. Beca had toyed with the idea of adoption for six weeks after she moved in with her dad and step-mother. When she finally found an OBGYN that she liked and felt comfortable with, she was about seventeen weeks pregnant, and it was time for her to find out the sex of her baby. She saw her daughter on the sonogram, heard her heartbeat, and she felt her heart with such love and joy. The increase in her heart rate seemed to wake up her little girl; Mel's heart began thumping a little quicker (not dangerously so, but enough that the tempo of her heartbeat changed) and her little body began moving inside of Beca. It was the first time that Beca had felt Mel kick. It was in that moment that she decided to keep Mel. She was going to bring her baby home and raise her. The steady thump of her baby's heartbeat and the fluttering of her moving body in Beca's womb were almost like a song, with contrasting tempos and rhythms, and Beca closed her eyes, listening and feeling the music that was her baby. She loved music, and she loved the sound of her baby's heartbeat, so she settled on the name of Melody. Charlotte was her middle name, so she decided to add it as Mel's middle name.

Beca snapped back to reality when she felt Jesse nudge her. Morgan and Lucy had gone back to talking about whatever, not paying attention to the two of them. Beca gave him a half smile, focusing on her food again. "Thinking about Mel?"

"Yeah," she whispered. "I was thinking about the moment that I decided to keep her. I just found out she was a girl and the first time that I felt her kick. I closed my eyes and listened to the sound of her heartbeat and felt her moving." Beca laid her hand on her stomach, feeling the phantom kicks of her baby. "I decided on her name then, too. Melody, because it was like a song," Beca said. She then rolled her eyes. "I have got to stop being a nerd about my kid. Seriously, it is beyond disgusting how much I love her. It makes me feel like an idiot."

"You are giving me serious ammo about how much of a nerd you become when it comes to your daughter." He joked, making Beca smile. "It's adorable." She punched him in the arm, making him spill his current bite of moo shu pork that he was in the process of moving towards his mouth. He pouted, staring at the glob of food that had fallen on the desk. "If it weren't for the fact that I would probably get an STD, I totally would have eaten that off the table." Beca stared at him, horrified. "Five second rule, Becs. You never pulled the five second rule before?"

"What the hell is a five second rule?"

"Where you have five seconds—well, sometimes it is the ten second rule, but I usually go by the five second rule—to eat something that has fallen on the floor, table, what-have-you before it becomes contaminated with germs. It is supposed to bring you comfort when you want to finish whatever fell—like, no, I won't get some disease or eat dirt or perhaps dog feces that was tracked in on someone's shoe if I eat that cookie that fell on the floor."

"That is disgusting. I know people say that you have to let your kids build up an immunity to germs and things like that by occasionally letting them eat dirt or sand or something, but the one time I ever let Mel eat something that touched a hand that wasn't washed or at least sanitized was when you gave her that pretzel on the day of auditions. That was an emergency, because she was tired and hungry and emotional, and I needed to calm her down."

"Seriously? Are you one of those hover-moms?" He asked as he took another bite of food.

"No! Like, I don't watch her every move to make sure she doesn't fall or anything like that, but I do try to make sure that she doesn't consume dirty food." Jesse grinned at her. Beca glanced up to see that Morgan had returned to the booth and Lucy had thrown away her trash and had gotten back to work. Beca sighed. "I feel like I should be fired from this job." Jesse raised his eyebrows at her.

"Why?"

"Because I am terrible! You and I are constantly goofing off and running off to have our private conversations where I have my mini-emotional breakdowns. Look, they both went right back to work, whereas you and I are just standing here, taking our good old time eating cold Chinese food and talking about my daughter."

"Ehh, you're the favorite." He whispered, holding a finger to his lips. "Don't tell anyone." He winked.

"It's not like Luke likes you much. He doesn't speak to me aside from saying 'Becky, do this' or 'Becky, do that.' So, no, I am actually not the favorite." She grimaced when she said the nickname that Luke always referred to her as. She hated it when he called her that, because it reminded her of Shane.

"You're my favorite." Beca rolled her eyes, fighting the smile that threatened to creep onto her face.

"I walked right into that one." She muttered, closing up what was last of her lo mien to stick in the mini-fridge until she left for the night. She grabbed one of her small spring rolls and added the other on top of her lo mien package, biting into it, as she walked towards the mini-fridge stored in the far corner of the station. When she was done, she made her way back to where Jesse was perusing her laptop. "What are you doing?" She asked him, cocking an eyebrow.

"Checking out your playlists." He said, smiling. He clicked on something, and soon one of Beca's mixes was filling the room. "Wow. This is good. Beyond good. What is it?" He looked up at her. Beca blushed, and she grabbed a napkin to wipe the grease from her food off her fingertips.

"Um…mine." She bit her lip.

"Wow! I knew that you said you liked to do this kind of stuff, but this is really awesome, Beca." He started scrolling through more of her music. "Are all of these mixes yours?"

"Yeah…" She walked over to stand next to him. She glanced at the screen before looking up at his face. His eyes were moving quickly down the page as he scrolled through her mixes.

"I can feel you staring at me. I know I am beyond sexy, but it is creeping me out." He grinned, turning to look at her. It was then that Beca realized just how close they were to each other. Their eyes locked, and it was beyond hard for her to breathe. She cleared her throat after a moment, looking away from him to look at the screen.

"So, yeah, not that you have seen all my mixes and heard one of them, you can forget about them." She muttered, closing out of iTunes. It was suddenly really quiet in the room, and when she shut her laptop, the sound was almost deafening. She moved away from him to turn up the sound of the songs coming from the booth. She took a deep breath before turning back to her work. For the next forty-five minutes, Beca felt Jesse's eyes following her every move, but she didn't dare return his glances. She knew that he liked her, and after what she had said to him during the beginning of the shift, he knew that she liked him. Beca wished that she wasn't so scared of getting hurt, though, because she wanted nothing more than to run across the station, throw her arms around Jesse's neck, and kiss him hard.

* * *

At the end of her shift, Beca decided it was time to start the whole process of involving Shane in hers and Mel's lives. She and Jesse were walking in the same direction that night, because Aubrey and Chloe's apartment was near the Trebles' house. They weren't talking, but it was a companionable silence. At least, it was for a little while. Beca pulled out her phone, opening Shane's text message to respond to it. She grabbed Jesse's hand. He glanced down at her in surprise, but when he saw her holding her phone in her right hand, her thumb poised over the buttons, ready to type, he gave her a small frown. He interlaced her fingers, squeezing her hand a little tighter in support. Beca carefully took a deep breath before her thumb started flying over the buttons of her phone. _Shane, I am confused, because the last time we talked, you told me that you weren't the father. You told me that you wanted nothing to do with a child. I don't know if I feel comfortable with the idea of introducing you to my daughter when it is so easy for you to waltz right back out of her life. That being said, I don't want to keep her from knowing her father. I am willing to start taking steps toward involving you in her life. Before you meet her, I would prefer it if you and I started talking and/or meeting regularly first._

Beca sent the text and released a breath that she didn't realize that she was holding. She slipped her phone into the front pocket of her lightweight jacket. She didn't release Jesse's hand, and he didn't make a move to do so either. She felt her body move closer to him without her mind's permission, as if there was a gravitational pull towards him. She found herself leaning against his arm, laying her head against his him. Jesse released her hand then, so that he could wrap that arm around her waist and tuck her better into his side. He leaned down to press a kiss into her hair. "Tell me it's going to be okay?" She whispered, gripping the back of his shirt in her hand.

"I can't promise that, Beca." He whispered back, squeezing her hipbone. "But, I can promise that I am going to be there for you and do everything in my power to make sure that you are okay." She smiled to herself; it was a sad smile, because while it made her feel good to know that Jesse was on her side, she still felt scared and conflicted about what was to come. She reached up to brush a lone tear from her cheek with her free hand. Her phone buzzed in her pocket.

Beca carefully pulled the phone out of her pocket and stared at the screen. She and Jesse slowed down steadily until they were both stopped. She closed her eyes for a moment before she opened the new text message from Shane. She could feel Jesse reading the text over her shoulder. _I know that I hurt you when I said that. I was scared and confused and a stupid kid. I messed up badly. I want to try and make it up to you and to our daughter. I understand why you would be unsure about letting me become involved in her life. I would love it if you and I could get together and catch up. I have missed you, Becky._ She swallowed. "I thought you didn't like to be called Becky." Jesse said. Beca shook her head.

"I don't anymore." She said quietly. "Shane called me Becky. I hated it at first, but then it became endearing." She tightened her jaw. "Then, I found out I was pregnant and my boyfriend dumped me like yesterday's trash, and the nickname lost all of its appeal again." She stared at the text. "I don't think he gets that this isn't a social meeting of two exes catching up. He hasn't been a parent for the last three years, so he doesn't understand what it is like for me."

"So, tell him that." Jesse said, pulling her even tighter against his side. Beca took a moment to think about what she wanted to say before she responded again. _This meeting isn't about you and me, Shane. It is about Melody. I want to make sure that you are really in this, because there is no going back when you do finally meet her. You are in her life for good, or I will seriously hunt you down and murder you. Do you understand? Take a few days to really think about whether or not you are interested in being involved in her life, then text me, and we can work out a time to meet and figure some things out._ She looked over the text one last time before sending it. "You okay?" She put away her phone, nodding her head. "Want a lift back to your place once you pick up Mel?" She shook her head.

"You don't have a booster seat in your car for Mel. I will get a ride back from Aubrey." She turned to hug Jesse, burying her face into his neck. She felt him wrap the other arm around her, turning to fully face the front of her.

"It tickles when you do that." He whispered, shivering at the feel of her breath hitting the skin of his neck. She pressed her face more fully against his skin, feeling the steady pound of his pulse through his skin. "You're killing me, Smalls." He muttered, and she pulled back, offended.

"I'm not that short, so that nickname is hardly appropriate." She smacked his chest with her hand. "Talk about kicking a dead horse while it's down." She said, smacking him again. Jesse chuckled, grabbing her hand in his to keep her from hitting him again.

"Chill, Beca. That is a line from a movie. _The Sandlot_. It is a classic. SOOO GOOD!" He moaned, his head falling back. "A group of misfit kids that play baseball in an empty lot, battling an annoying group of guys on a league and the massive beast of a dog that lives in the neighboring house to their sandlot. It is like one of the best coming of age stories of all time." Beca just stared at him, and Jesse suddenly looked distressed. "Seriously? You never even heard of the movie?"

"No." She shook her head.

"Shit! This is not okay! There are so many movies that you need to see, Beca. Like NEED to see—life or death NEED to see. _The Sandlot_ is one of them. Then, there are the _Rocky_ movies, and _Lord of the Rings_, hell, the _Harry Potter _movies, and _Star Wars_. Of all the movies in the world you have to watch, the _Star Wars_ movies are like number one. "

"Jesse, calm down! I don't need to see _Star Wars_. I mean, I already know that Darth Vader is Luke's father, so why spend hours watching the damn movies." Jesse just stared at her in shock.

"Oh, so you just guessed the biggest cinematic reveal of all time without even watching five minutes of the movie?" Beca shook her head in amusement.

"Jesse, the word vater—which is very similar to Vader—literally means father in German. So, the guy's name is basically Darth Father."

"You're no fun. The fact that you know German explains why you are truly no fun." Jesse pouted. "Fine, so you don't watch _Star Wars_, but it still does not mean that you haven't been missing out on a billion awesome movies. Like _The Sandlot_. Oh, and how could I forget _The Breakfast Club_!?" Jesse grabbed Beca's hands in his. "That's it! We are having a movication. As your _friend_, I demand that I start educating you in the heavenly experience that is movie watching. Prepare yourself, Mitchell. Most of your free time will now be spent with me, in the dark, on either a bed or a couch, with the only light coming from either a laptop or a TV, as we watch some of the greatest things ever created." In the middle of his rant, Jesse's excited, traumatized facial expression became more flirtatious and suggestive. By the end, he was smirking in an entirely dirty way, which made Beca roll her eyes.

"I am not agreeing to a movication, Jesse." She started walking away from him then, towards Aubrey and Chloe's apartment. "Especially not one that requires intimate settings with only you."

"Why? Are you scared that you might jump me?" He said when he caught up to her, grabbing her hand and interlacing their fingers. He winked when she looked up at him with a sour look on her face. "Seriously, Beca, I will rock your world on our movication nights."

"Shut up." She muttered, but she didn't drop his hand. It felt nice to forget about everything for just a moment and to just enjoy spending the moment with Jesse. She licked her bottom lip, looking up at the sky. It was really beautiful on the Barden campus. "I will only agree to a movication if there are other people there. Like Aubrey and Chloe. Or, maybe Fat Amy. Or Stacie. Hell, your old cuddle-buddy, Benji." She said after a few moments. "We can never invite Chloe's boyfriend or any other guy around Amy and Stacie, though."

"Yeah, it would turn into a live-action porno right next to us." He joked. She giggled, thinking of something that would get Jesse flustered.

"I saw a porno at a party back in high school. I liked that movie." She joked, and Jesse stopped dead, pulling Beca flush against his body. She looked up into his eyes, which she saw were an even darker brown now than they had been a few minutes ago. Her breath caught in her throat, because he looked like he was a starving man who was about to eat her face. He moved toward her, and she stilled, thinking that he was going to kiss her. Instead, Jesse buried his face into Beca's neck, pressing his lips tightly against her skin, nipping and kissing her. She groaned, and her right hand slipped into his hair, her fingers coming through it.

"So not fair…" he muttered against her neck when he stopped nibbling along the artery in her neck. " You have no idea how much I want to kiss you, Beca. I am trying really hard to be your friend here." He muttered, biting down gently on her neck again, sucking lightly at the skin. She whimpered, digging her nails into his scalp. Her other hand slipped up his arm to the back of his neck, where she gripped him, her nails also digging into the skin there. Jesse stopped then, not moving his mouth from her neck, but no longer nibbling and suckling her skin. Her eyes had shut, and she carefully opened them, finding herself staring at the dip of his clavicle where his shirt had been tugged down slightly when she had grabbed at his neck.

"I'm sorry." She whispered, releasing her hold on his head. She attempted a step back, but Jesse wrapped his arms more firmly around her body. He pulled his face from her neck and stared down into her eyes. He leaned forward so that their foreheads were pressed together.

"I told you that I would wait for you." He whispered, letting his eyes close. Their breath mingled, warming their faces and the small amount of air between them.

"I know, Jesse. Soon…" She whispered. "I hope that everything will be fine soon." His eyes opened, latching on tightly with hers once again. He smiled lightly at her. They were quiet for a few minutes with their foreheads pressed together and eyes locked.

"Alright," Jesse said, pulling away from her. He took a step back, and Beca fought the desire to pull him back towards her. "I am going to go before I do something that you aren't ready for." Beca clamped her lips tightly together, biting her tongue to keep from telling him how much she actually wanted him to kiss her. He took a deep breath before leaning forward to press a lingering kiss to her cheek. "Goodnight, Beca." She smiled at him, nodding her head. He turned then and started walking, crossing the street, and he made his way around the corner, disappearing in the direction of the Trebles' house. Beca watched him leave before turning and walking up the rest of the street and turning down the opposite corner towards Chloe and Aubrey's apartment. She ignored the part of her that was wishing that they had kissed. This certainly was a weird day.


	6. Chapter 6

**Unbroken**

**Chapter 6**

**A **_**Pitch Perfect **_**Story**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything familiar.**

**Author's Note: I'm sorry for that tiny bit of a cliff hanger at the end of the last chapter. There is going to be some Beca/Shane, Beca/Jesse, Jesse/Mel, and Jesse/Shane interaction in this chapter.  
**

* * *

Chloe dropped into the seat beside Beca during their fifteen minute break about halfway through practice on Wednesday. The redhead studied her younger, brunette friend who was staring off into space with a conflicted expression on her face. "What's on your mind, lady love?" Chloe asked her, laying a hand on Beca's forearm, which caused the brunette to jump about two feet into the air.

"Shit! Chlo!" Beca yelped, pressing a hand to her chest. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to settle her heart rate. Chloe just stared at her, making the brunette sigh. "Nothing."

"Nothing?" The redhead smirked at her, narrowing her eyes slightly. "Does this nothing happen to have to do with a handsome brunette with the most adorable grin and the voice that is the perfect definition of orgasmic?" Beca glared at Chloe, who just chuckled. "It totally does! Becs, are you and Jesse a thing?"

"No!" She said quickly, shaking her head. Chloe giggled as she tapped both of her own cheeks with a big smile on her face. "Your blushing, Beca." She sang to the brunette. "So, what's going on with you and Jesse?"

"Uggh!" Beca groaned and pulled her hair from her ponytail. She ran her fingers through it a few times before pulling it back up into a tighter ponytail, making sure that all of the pieces that had fallen out during the earlier part of practice were now secured with the rest of hair by the elastic hair tie. "Nothing is going on with Jesse. He and I are friends…he wants more…" She chewed on her bottom lip, taking a sip of her water bottle.

"And? I can totally tell that you like him, too. So, what's the problem?" Chloe asked, nudging Beca's shoulder.

"There are a bunch of problems," Beca began. She took a moment to think about what she wanted to say to Chloe. There was a lot that she was keeping from the redhead, which she hated doing. She really needed to start at the beginning with her friend to fully explain what had been happening over the last few weeks. "Look, do you think that we could maybe talk about this after practice today? Like over dinner. You, me, Mel, and maybe Aubrey over some Chinese or PB and J sandwiches?"

"Yeah, Becs. I would love it. Do you want to come to our apartment, or would you like to go your place?" Beca took a moment to think about what she wanted. She hadn't seen Margaret around her place since the fight in the coffee shop since Monday, but she didn't want to risk it.

"Yours." Beca said after a few moments. Chloe nodded her head and smiled sympathetically at Beca. Aubrey blew her whistle, telling them that their break was over. The two girls stood up and returned to the rest of the group to run through the choreography that they had learned earlier in the practice for what was probably the twentieth time.

About an hour later, Beca, Aubrey, and Chloe were walking towards the preschool to pick up Mel. They all had stopped for smoothies at the campus café after practice, and Beca had began telling them the story of what has been happening with her and Jesse, and therefore, her and Margaret. She had been right when she told Jesse that she assumed Aubrey had filled Chloe in on her issues with her mom. Aubrey hadn't told Chloe the whole story—just that Beca and her mom had fought about whether or not Beca should stay pregnant, and when Beca decided that she wasn't going to get an abortion, Margaret told her that she couldn't live with her anymore, so the teenager had moved in with Daniel, Sheila, and Aubrey. Beca filled in exactly what happened between her and her mom—how Margaret had said some pretty hurtful things about Beca's pregnancy and that she had never wanted to see her again. After she filled in those details, Beca returned to how Jesse had been comforting Beca when it comes to her issues with her mom. When she got to the part about how Margaret had showed up at the house, Aubrey snapped.

"So, Margaret just showed up the house?" Aubrey asked, and Beca could tell from her tone that she was beyond pissed. "Are you fucking kidding me?"

"It gets worse. She kept saying that she is my mom, and she was not so nice about your mom, especially after she heard me call Sheila her grandma." Aubrey grinned in satisfaction at the idea that Margaret had been insulted to know that Mel considered Sheila as her grandmother. "I basically told her off and went inside. I couldn't deal, and I freaked out to your mom. Then, I had to go to work, and Jesse was there. He was able to calm me down by making jokes about how he likes to hold hands with and hug and cuddle with the Trebles, like Donald, Benji, and so on." Chloe giggled, and Aubrey cocked an eyebrow at Beca.

"Actually, I wouldn't be surprised. They all have major toners for each other. If I weren't sure that Donald loved me and was totally into sex with me, I would be afraid he was gay for some of the other Trebles." She said, making both Beca and Chloe laugh harder. It was moments like these that Beca actually liked Aubrey, but there were a lot of moments where her blonde step-sister pissed her off—more of those moments that the good moments.

"So, he calmed me down and ignored Trish who was practically taking off her clothing in front of him and trying to have sex with him in front of me." Beca rolled her eyes at the memory of the redhead. "Margaret kept calling me throughout the week, and she wouldn't tell Dad what she wanted when he and Sheila tried to get her to talk to them. By the time the Riff-Off rolled around, I was ready to kill someone. Jesse relaxed me again, but he also freaked me out. He asked me out."

"Oh, my God!" Chloe squealed, jumping up and down for a second, making the other two girls stare at her. "Sorry, continue."

"As I was saying, he asked me out. He said that he knew I was scared that both Mel and I were going to get hurt. Somehow that boy has an uncanny ability to read me. I thought that I had kept my fear of getting hurt again from him." Beca shrugged. "I explained that I'm not ready." She ignored Chloe's whimper of disproval. "I mean, it has been almost four years since I last dated anyone. I am going to beyond suck at it. Not only that, I have a kid and the father of that kid royally fucked me up by walking out when I was scared shitless and left me to do it all on my own. Seriously, thank God for you two and Dad and Sheila and Donald, because these last three years—it would have been bad if it weren't for all of you." Chloe wrapped an arm around her waist, and Aubrey grabbed Beca's free hand that wasn't holding her drink.

"We love you, Beca." Chloe told her, smiling. "We love Mel. You are family." Beca smiled at them. They reached the preschool, and all three of them went inside to collect Mel and her stuff. Beca took about ten minutes to talk to Mel's teachers to find out about her day, while Aubrey and Chloe sat on the floor, playing with Mel and a few other preschoolers with the toys. When Beca and her teachers were finished chatting, she turned to the three of them.

"Alright, kiddies, let's hit the road. Mels-bells, we are going to Auntie Chloe and Aubrey's apartment for dinner. Isn't that exciting!?" Mel grinned, jumping up and diving into Beca's arms.

"Thanks, Mommy! I love going to their house!" Beca grinned at her daughter. She pulled the little girl into her arms, settling her onto her waist. Chloe and Aubrey split Mel's stuff up between them, and the four of them made their way out of the preschool and in the direction of the girls' apartment.

As they walked, the girls talked to Mel about her day (apparently, Johnny was a meanie-head and had threw a ball at Mel when she wasn't looking and then took her puzzle when Mel started crying). Beca knew that Chloe was anxious to get back to their conversation, but Mel was her priority at the moment. Once they got Mel settled in their apartment, dinner ordered, and the little girl set up with some toys, they could finish their conversation. The walk from the preschool to their apartment only took about ten minutes. The entire time, Mel chattered on and on about what she did at school, the other kids, what she wanted to wear to school the next day, what she wanted to eat for dinner, and so on. Beca loved the little girl to death, but she wondered where she got her talkativeness from, because it certainly wasn't Beca (and Shane never talked this much when she and Beca were dating). But, the answer came to Beca when she glanced over at her friend and step-sister and saw that the redhead was practically vibrating with pent up energy. Her blue eyes were huge, and she looked like she was two seconds from exploding, because she hadn't been able to say anything since they had picked up Mel. Yeah, the little girl had definitely picked up Chloe's verbosity over the last three years.

When they got into the apartment, Beca set Mel down, with a bunch of the toys that they kept specifically for Mel at the apartment and set to work on finalizing what they were ordering for dinner. They ordered dinner, and Beca was finally able to begin to finish what they had been talking about earlier. "So, I told him I wasn't ready, and Jesse said he would wait for me." Chloe hummed excitedly and grabbed a beer, sipping it to keep her hands and mouth busy since now wasn't the time for her to be allowed to talk, since Beca had just began her story again. Beca paused, knowing what was next would definitely shock the shit out of the other girls. "That night, I got a text from Shane. He's living in Atlanta now." Both girls' jaws dropped open, and Chloe slapped a hand over her mouth after a moment to keep the expletive from exploding from her lips.

"What?!" Aubrey said after a moment. Beca sighed and filled the girls in on the rest of what had happened to her. The meeting with Margaret on Monday, then what happened during her shift at the radio station, specifically what happened when she first got there with Jesse, as well as their conversation afterwards as they walked toward Chloe and Aubrey's apartment and the Treble house.

"Wow," Chloe said, shaking her head, when Beca was done the story. "That sounded kind of hot…I wish you had kissed him, though. The first kiss is always _sooo_ awesome, and I need to live vicariously through you since both Aubs and I are practically married. And, hearing about the first kiss and how it turns into the first orgasm from Stacie and Fat Amy has lost its appeal at this point. Now, if you were to tell me about your first orgasm by you know who, I am all for it!" Beca smacked the redhead's arm, glaring at her before pointing at the little girl who was sitting across the room from them, playing with some My Little Pony horses. "Sorry," Chloe said, wincing slightly. "I don't think she heard me."

"Yeah, well, I really don't need her going to school tomorrow and saying the word O-R-G-A-S-M to her teachers and the other kids," Beca said, spelling out orgasm. Chloe nodded her head.

"Beyond embarrassing! I know…it won't happen again." Chloe insisted, and Beca nodded. She really didn't need to have her daughter start saying words like that. She was already starting to get curious about the different body parts that boys and girls have after she walked into the boy's bathroom at school when she was done going potty during potty time after lunch and saw that Tommy had a different appendage between his legs than she did. Beca had to explain to the little girl that girls had vaginas and boys had penises, which only confused the little girl more. Mel wanted to know why girls had "baginas" and why boys had "penny-nesses." (Mel's words, not Beca's.) Beca was a firm believer in educating her daughter on the accurate terminology, so that she didn't associate one body part as better than another or view the human body as dirty. She had plans on educating her daughter about the human body, sex, and those consequences early and often so that her daughter wasn't surprised by an STD or a pregnancy (like Beca was), and so that her daughter could make safe and informed decisions regarding sexual intimacy with whomever she chose to be with.

Beca resumed talking about how she had given Shane a few days to really think about whether or not he wanted to get involved in Mel's life. She finished off by saying she was not only conflicted by the feelings she was beginning to have for Jesse, as well as her feelings associated with Shane. She hated admitting it, but a huge part of her was still hurting over his breaking up with her; Beca was sure that she would have fully gotten over the breakup if it hadn't been for the constant reminder of their relationship through Mel. She wasn't sure what her feelings for Shane were, and she was nervous about meeting with him and falling under his spell again, because it would be so much easier to be with her daughter's biological father than it would be to be with a guy like Jesse, who had no connection to them and therefore could have an easier time leaving them. Then again, Shane left her and Mel, as did her mother, so biology might not have anything do with making a person stay in someone's (or, _someones'_) life.

* * *

After dinner, Beca and Mel left at about six for their short walk home. As they were walking, they came across Jesse who was leaving the Treble house. "Beca! Melody!" He shouted to them as he crossed the street. "Be-caw!" He crowed like a bird, making Beca roll her eyes as she stopped, letting him catch up to them.

"Seriously, dude?" She asked him, when he caught up to them. He smirked at her before he dropped to his knees a few feet from Mel.

"Hey, Mel. Do you remember me? I'm Jesse. I gave you a pretzel and a juice box." The little girl stared at him, tucking herself behind Beca's leg. Her little face peaked out behind Beca's leg. After a little while, she nodded her head.

"Hi," she whispered shyly. Jesse smiled and held out his hand to Mel. The little girl looked up at her mom.

"He won't bite," Beca told the little girl, blushing as she remembered the last time that the two of them had been alone. Yesterday, she had worked with Trish in the evening, and the redhead was especially cruel, trying to make Beca stay late so that she could skip out early. Thankfully, Luke was there (and he was aware of Beca's personal life [read: she had a kid]), so he told Trish to shut up and let Beca go home on time. "You can shake his hand," Beca said quickly, refusing to look at Jesse, because she was sure he probably had a huge, shit-eating grin on his face.

"Hi," Mel said again, stepping forward to put her hand in his. Jesse carefully shook it up and down, smiling at her.

"How are you, Mel?" He asked her. Mel grinned as she began telling him all about how Johnny was a meanie and the ball-throwing, puzzle-stealing incident. She then chattered on and on about how she played with the horsies at Aubrey and Chloe's apartment, and how Beca made her a grilled cheese there, because she didn't like Chinese food like Mommy and her aunts did. Jesse acted like he was totally interested, smiling and saying, "uh-huh," "really," and "wow" all throughout the little girl's chattering. Beca grinned as she watched them interact. Her eyes grew huge, however, when Mel got to talking about Tommy and boys and girls.

"Jesse, you are a boy, right?" He nodded his head, a little confused about where this is going. He glanced up when Beca groaned, and she mouthed the words, 'don't laugh' at him. He gave her a slight nod and focused back on Mel.

"Yeah, I am a boy. Why do you ask?" Mel chewed on her bottom lip, her brow furrowed.

"Then that means you have a pennyness like Tommy does. Mommy says that boys have pennynesses, but girls have baginas. But, she won't tell me why boys and girls don't both have baginas or pennynesses. Do you know why?" Beca could tell that Jesse was trying his hardest not to laugh.

"Um, well, what did your mommy tell you about the differences between boys and girls?" He asked slowly.

"She said that boys and girls are different because they need to be different to make babies. But, I don't know why boys and girls have to look different. Miss Annie at school tolds me that babies come from the stork, which is a big birdie. So, why don't boys and girls look the same?"

"Well," Jesse began, but Beca could tell that he was uncomfortable and didn't know what to say to the preschooler. She held back the chuckle. She dropped to her knees beside Mel.

"Mels, that isn't exactly where babies come from. Babies are made by a boy and a girl who really care about each other. The baby lives inside of the mommy's belly." She paused. "Remember the pictures of Mommy when she had a really big belly that looked like she had a basketball under her shirt?" Mel nodded her head.

"Yeah, Momma, you looked so silly!" She crinkled her nose. "You looked like you were going to fall over." Beca smiled at the little girl.

"Well, that big belly was from you being inside of my belly." Mel's eyes got huge.

"What?! That is crazy!" Beca smiled even bigger at the little girl, and she heard Jesse let out a small chuckle which he quickly turned into a couch, hiding him smile beneath his hand.

"Yeah, that is where you lived until you got big enough to come out. In order to make a baby, the boys and girls need to have different parts." She hoped that the little girl was satisfied with this explanation and that she didn't have to go into any more detail about how a baby gets inside of the mommy until her daughter was much older.

"Oh," Mel said. Beca could tell from her face that the little girl was thinking hard about something. After awhile she looked between Beca and Jesse. "Well, if a mommy and a daddy make a baby, then who is my daddy?" Beca froze and tried her hardest not let a negative expression come onto her face. She knew that Mel was going to ask a question like this eventually, and since Shane had moved to Atlanta, Beca was sure that the little girl was going to meet him, so she didn't want her reaction to affect the relationship between Mel and her father. She opened her mouth before shutting it again, not sure what to say.

"Sometimes, Mel," Jesse said carefully, answering for Beca, who looked at him in both concern and alarm. "A daddy and a mommy don't live together when they make a baby together. Sometimes it is just a mommy and sometimes it is just a daddy. Sometimes there are two mommies, and the daddy just helps those mommies have a baby. Sometimes there are two daddies, and the mommy helps those two daddies have a baby. There are all different kinds of families. Your family is with your mommy, your aunts Aubrey and Chloe, your uncle Donald, and your grandparents." Beca let out a breath.

"So, my daddy helped you make me?" Mel asked, focusing on Beca again. Beca nodded her head carefully. "But, you said that boys and girls who care about each other make babies."

"They do," Beca said, chewing on her bottom lip. "Sometimes, when they care about each other, it is only to make a baby." She paused. "Sometimes, the mommy and the daddy care about each other enough to make a baby, but they can't be together for awhile." She hoped that by saying that, it wouldn't freak out the little girl when she finally met Shane. She saw from the corner of her eye that Jesse was not pleased by that statement. She didn't mean it as her getting together with Shane, but that Shane wasn't in the picture from the beginning but will be in the picture later.

"There are sometimes families where the mommy and daddy make the baby, but the way that the mommy and daddy care about each other isn't the same as the mommy or daddy cares about another person; that is how some families have step-mommies and step-daddies." Beca narrowed her eyes at him.

"And, sometimes the mommy or the daddy just has a lot of friends helping him or her raise the baby." She said slowly. The little girl looked between the two of them with a single eyebrow raised. Mel could totally tell that something was up between the two of them, but she didn't know what exactly was going on.

"You are crazy people." Mel said, shaking her head. Beca focused her attention back onto Mel, smiling at her. "Why was Auntie Chloe talking about Jesse earlier?" Beca immediately pulled Mel into her arms.

"So, Mels, do you wanna stop for some frozen yogurt on the way home? It isn't that cold yet, so we should be okay." She said quickly, settling the little girl on her hip as she stood up.

"Yeah! I wants chocolate!" Mel said excitedly, her mind completely off talking about Chloe and Jesse.

"Why was Chloe talking about me earlier?" Jesse asked Beca, smirking. The brunette girl tried to keep her cool.

"Well, I was explaining to them what has been going on lately with M-A-R-G-A-R-E-T and S-H-A-N-E, and I said that you have been very kind and helped to talk me down during my emotional spells at the station." She told him, spelling out the two names so that Mel wouldn't pick up on it.

"Uh-huh…" He continued to smirk at her, making her groan.

"Goodbye, dork. Say goodbye to Jesse, Mels."

"Bye, dork!" Mel repeated, making Jesse pout and Beca laugh quietly.

"I will see you tomorrow, Beca." He said pointedly. He turned his attention on Mel. "Goodbye, Mel. Can I have a high five before I go?" The little girl nodded her head, and the two of them high-fived, making Mel laugh. He stepped forward and pressed a kiss to Beca's cheek. "Bye, Becs." He said as he crossed the street again, heading to wherever he had been going originally. Beca sighed, putting Mel down and leading her towards home. She was going to have to start using her car, because Mel was getting heavier and heavier as she grew, and soon she was going to have a lot more stuff to bring to and from school.

When they arrived back at the house, Beca's phone vibrated. As she settled Mel in the bath, splashing around with her toys, she sat on the toilet to check her phone. She took a deep breath when she noticed that the number the text came from was Shane's. Closing her eyes for a moment, she opened the text and read it. _Becky, I have been giving it a lot of thought. You are right that this is a life-long commitment that I am about to take on. I want you to know that I really want to start the process of getting to know my daughter. I would love to meet with you so that we can talk this week. Maybe Friday afternoon or something? Let me know what time would work for you._

Beca took a moment to go over her schedule in her mind. She had a shift at the radio station until about five. Then, a Bella's rehearsal from five-thirty until seven-thirty. It would suck to schedule the meeting with Shane during the weekend, because it would mean more time away from Mel, because she needed to meet with a study group for her biology class to prepare for the exam that she had on Monday morning. Maybe he would be free on Monday after her classes and before her long shift at the station. If things didn't go well between her and Shane, then Jesse could do his thing by relaxing Beca through silly comments, hugs, and his general presence. She sighed, texting him to see if they could meet at ten-thirty at the same coffee shop that she had met with Margaret. Within a few moments, he texted back, saying that would be fine; he even added that he was free until two, so they could do lunch together. Beca told him that she had work at twelve, so they could only talk until around eleven-thirty. An hour was the best that she could do for this first awkward meeting with Shane.

* * *

Beca overslept on Monday morning. She barely had enough time to get Mel fed and dressed, and herself? She took a five-minute long shower that was ice cold that woke her up faster than any amount of coffee ever would, with barely enough time to throw on jeans, sneakers, and an oversized sweater and her jacket. Her damp hair was quickly French-braided and she wore barely any eyeliner or mascara, because she just didn't have the time for it. She drove them to the campus that day, because it was a hell of a lot faster, and she was beyond lucky that she got a parking spot near the preschool. Her priority was Mel, so she only had time to choke down a small granola bar as she ran across the campus to get to her exam on time. She did rather well on it, she was sure, but her stomach growled obnoxiously the entire time—she was sure that people could hear it throughout the entire room. When she was done with the exam and her other morning class (thankfully, she was able to buy an apple before her second class to tide over her stomach that was surely eating itself), she ran to the coffee shop, getting there early so that she could stuff her face with a muffin and an extra large coffee. While she waited for Shane to arrive, she texted Jesse that he better have a vegetarian-friendly lunch waiting for her when she arrived at the station if he knew what was good for him. His response read: _you have two hands._ He was throwing her words towards him right back into her face. She sent him an angry curse-filled text, saying that she would castrate him if he didn't have food waiting for her.

"Becky, hey!" Beca glanced up, ignoring the fact that her phone buzzed with another text, most likely from Jesse. There he was. Shane Huntley. He had a hat on over his head, and a black jacket over his jeans and what looked like motorcycle boots. It was clear that he still used his bike. His cheeks and nose were tinted red, only making his eyes—almost navy blue in color—stand out on his face—his very handsome face. He was even cuter now. The last three years have been kind to him. "I'm gonna get a drink." Shane said, pointing to the counter. He gave her a warm smile before he made his way to order his coffee. After a few moments, he made his way to her table with a coffee in his hands. He set it down on the table and pulled the chair opposite her out. He pulled his hat off, and the first thing that she noticed was that his dark blonde hair that had been kind of long and unkempt when they were dating was cut into a very short buzz cut. He pulled off his jacket, tucking it over the back of the chair, and Beca saw that he was much stockier now, as well. He had always been slender, but defined during high school, but now he was a wall of muscle—he was an even muscular version of Luke who had flashed his abs to her and Jesse a few weeks ago when Jesse made a comment about his ability to eat burgers nonstop wouldn't last him forever. His long-sleeved black shirt was tight enough to reveal the bulge of his muscled arms and a defined chest. He looked amazing. She hated him for it. "Wow! You look amazing, Becky! Come here," he said, reaching for her.

Beca stood up, giving him an awkward hug, ignoring the woodsy scent he had. She didn't think that she looked great; if anything, she felt less like herself and uncomfortable, considering the lack of her usual amount of makeup and the fact that her hair was in a _braid_. "Um, hi…" She said as she pulled out of the hug as quickly as she could. "Thanks; you look great, too, Shane." He smiled, dropping into the seat as she did, and he took a sip of his coffee as he ran a hand over the top of his head.

"Yeah, well…after you moved, I…uh…I enlisted after I graduated. The marines." Shane shrugged. "After training and shit, I got sent to Iraq. It was pretty crazy over there." He looked down at the coffee that he was playing with in his hands. "I was there for like two years." He lifted the coffee to his lips and took a sip. "I had just started my second tour when I got hurt. We were ambushed, and I lost a lot of friends from my unit. I got hurt pretty bad, too." He rolled his eyes. "Well, more like really bad…" He shrugged. He pulled his shirt up, revealing a huge, angry scar that stretched across his stomach. He had way better abs than Luke. He dropped his shirt again, and glanced up at her. "They discharged me, because I got hurt so badly. I was in recovery for about four months."

"Oh," Beca didn't know what to say. He had enlisted in the marines? He got hurt? He had almost died? Fuck, why did he have to look so good? She took a sip of her coffee. "I'm glad you're okay." Shane nodded his head, smiling.

"Yeah, the only thing that went through my mind when I was in the hospital was that I royally fucked up with you and…you said you named her Melody?" He asked hesitantly. She nodded her head. "Melody. That is a pretty name. You always did love music." She licked her bottom lip, not sure what to say. "Some of the guys…they had kids, and they died; their kids wouldn't have a chance to grow up knowing their dads, and I felt like shit, because I walked away before she was even born. Why did I live? They loved their families, and they died, but I lived? That didn't make sense to me. So, I…uh…I decided that I was going to do better by you and her when I got back home." She let out the breath that she was holding; he was saying all of the right things. She was scared that it was too good to be true, though.

"How did you get hooked up with Margaret?" Beca asked after a moment. Shane cocked his head to the side. "My…my mom." She added when she realized he was confused what she had meant.

"Oh, right." He ran a hand over his short hair again. "She saw me in town buying groceries one day. I was finally out of the hospital, and I had just gotten back to my parents' house about a week before. I still hadn't figured out what I was gonna do. It was like…mid-July or something?" He paused, shrugging. "She walked up to me and kept going on and on about how fucked up I was for not standing by you and my kid." Beca's jaw tensed, and Shane cocked an eyebrow at her, but he kept going. "She told me that you were living in Atlanta with your dad and our daughter. She said that I should move to Atlanta and figure my shit out here. So, I gave it a lot of thought. I got money in the bank from enlisting, so I figured I could maybe look into going to school or something." He shrugged. "Doing what? I dunno. If not school, I could join the police force or the fire company or something…I am good at running into firefights of both the gun and the flame variety." He joked. Beca nearly choked on the sip of coffee she was taking. He grinned at her. "But, I figured she was right. This was my second chance, you know? I could move down here and get to know my daughter, what the other guys couldn't do." He crossed his arms, making his muscles more pronounced. She was sure he was doing it on purpose—he knew that he looked good. That was the thing about Shane; he was cocky and new that he was attractive. His time in the military only made him more attractive and more cocky and aware of it. She rolled her eyes slightly. "So, what's up with that look earlier when I was talking about your mom?"

"She is the reason I moved to Atlanta," Beca said simply, running her finger along the edge of her coffee lid. "She told me that my daughter was inappropriate and shameful. She told me that Mel ruined my life and that she wanted nothing to do with me. Until recently, which is why she pushed you to get in contact with me—now, she needs me to move back to Pennsylvania with her so that she can show off how great her relationship is with her daughter to her new fiancé. She hoped that you would stay here with Mel, and I would just drop my daughter to live with her and her Italian hubby." Shane's face clouded. "Yeah…so, I want nothing to do with her. And, I want her nowhere near Mel."

"I'm so sorry, Becky." He reached out to lay a hand over her hand that was lying on the table beside her coffee. Beca froze, staring at their hands. After a while, she relaxed her hand, letting him hold her hand better. Shane smiled at her, squeezing her hand lightly. "I am sorry that I bothered you with all of this." He said after a moment, pulling his hand back. She chewed on her bottom lip. "I bet it must have been really fucked up to hear from me at the same time that she was pushing herself on you like that. I fucked up…" She shook her head after a few moments.

"No, it's…I'm…Mel should know her dad," she said finally. She was quiet for a few moments, taking small sips of her coffee. She felt his eyes on her. "Why did you…shit," she didn't know how to ask what she wanted to ask him.

"I fucked up even worse then, Becky." Shane told her, knowing what she was getting at. "I was a stupid kid, seventeen and so full of myself. I just…fuck, I hurt you. I was older—I should have been smarter. You came to me on New Year's Eve, so upset over the fact that your dad had proposed to your step-mom. I took advantage of you, getting you drunk and getting you to sleep with me like that. I was an idiot, because I should've made sure that I had a condom on." He shook his head. Beca looked at him in shock, because he was apologizing for so many things that he acted like he didn't care about back when they were still together. "When you told me that you didn't want to keep having sex, I felt like a total asshole—I knew I did the wrong thing by you, but I was pissed, because you were my girl, and you were supposed to have sex with me." She noticed the guilty look on his face. "When you came to me…when you told me that you were pregnant…fuck, I wish I could take back what I said to you. It was easier to say that you cheated on me—that you were trying to pin the kid on me, when that wasn't true. I was seventeen, and I was scared. I knew that I wasn't dad material, then. I didn't even think about the fact that you were only fifteen—you were the one who was going to have to deal with a kid growing inside of you, the one who was going to have to give birth. I left you alone to deal with all of that. She really kicked you out?"

Beca nodded her head, and Shane cursed, his hands tightening into fists on the table. "It worked out great, though…" She tried. His body tensed, and she knew that he wasn't happy by hearing that. She was going to be honest with him. "My dad and Sheila took me in. Aubrey, my step-sister, moved into their guest house, and we turned her old room into a nursery. After I decided that I was going to keep Mel."

"I didn't know that you considered…" He paused.

"When you and I first broke up, I considered abortion, but after I did research, I realized I was too far along for the nonsurgical methods; I was about nine weeks pregnant then…I decided that I didn't want to get the surgical procedure done." She paused; thinking back to that time was always painful. "My mom kicked me out two weeks later. I moved to Georgia with my dad. I was so sure that I was gonna give the baby up for adoption. I couldn't be a parent. I lost my mom, and you left me. I couldn't do it alone. I know that my dad and Sheila and Aubrey were supportive of whatever decision I made and would have helped me if I wanted to keep her, but I was so sure that it would be better for the baby and me and everyone if I gave up it up. " She wiped at the tear that slipped down my cheek. She smiled softly when she remembered the memory of the ultrasound to find out the sex of the baby and feeling Mel kick; the same memory she had been talking to the previous week with Jesse. "I finally found a good OBGYN down here that I felt comfortable with, and when I was seventeen weeks along, I went in to find out what sex the baby was. I found out that she was a girl, and I felt her kick for the first time. I knew that she was mine, then. It was the hardest decision that I ever made to keep her, because I knew that she was probably better off with a family. I had recently begun searching online for couples who were hoping to adopt around Georgia and stuff. I knew that anyone of those families were better for her than a single, teenaged mom would be, but when I felt her kick and heard her heart beating in that room, I knew that she was mine."

"I wish that I was there with you…" Shane whispered. Beca took a sip of her coffee, avoiding looking at him. "I'm sorry that I left you, Becky. I am sorry that I screwed you over like that. You didn't deserve it. I should have been there for you, helping you."

"My dad, Sheila, Aubrey, Aubrey's best friend—my best friend—Chloe, and Aubrey's boyfriend, Donald-they all stood by me and helped me after Melody was born."

"Yeah, but I should have been there." Shane insisted. "I want to make up for it, Becky. I…it…fuck, both you and her deserve better, and I am gonna try and make up for it." She nodded her head. Her phone buzzed again, and she glanced down at the screen, seeing that it was a text from Jesse. It was nearly quarter of twelve, so she had to go.

"Um, I have to get to work…" Beca said, staring at the screen. She didn't want to answer the text in front of Shane. It felt weird to talk to Jesse in front of him—she wasn't sure why.

"Okay." Shane nodded his head. "Can I walk you there?" She licked her bottom lip, considering. Her stomach twisted, and she felt weird. She nodded her head after a few minutes. They both stood, pulling on their outdoor clothing. Beca grabbed her schoolbag and her phone from the table. Shane grabbed her empty cup and threw them both out as he led the way out the door.

While Beca was walking behind him, she quickly opened the texts from Jesse. The first read: _sheesh, woman! Relax! I will have food waiting for you! ;) _The second text from a few moments before read: _I got us a small cheese pizza and two tossed salads for lunch from the pizza shop near the Treble house. Food should be done soon, so I should be headed toward the station in a few. Will wait for you out front. _Beca felt weird again, because she didn't know which she felt more uncomfortable with: Jesse seeing her with Shane, or Shane seeing that Jesse was waiting for her with lunch, like they were more than friends. Because, they were…but, not really. Beca kept insisting that they weren't anything else but friends. She kept saying that is all that she could handle. But, being here with Shane…all of those old memories flooded back—all of the reasons why she had liked him originally were back. It only got worse, because now he was actually trying—he wasn't being the same douche bag that he was when he broke things off with her. He realized that he fucked up. He realized that he should be involved in Mel's life. He was trying to make something of his life.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Shane said, nudging her. Beca looked up at him in surprise. He was walking beside her in silence, and they were a few minutes from the station. She thought she could see a dark-haired boy, balancing a pizza box and a brown bag, with a schoolbag thrown over his shoulder in the distance. She bit her lip, unsure what to say.

"I am…this is weird, Shane." He nodded his head, reaching out to grab her hand. She tensed, because while it felt wrong to hold his hand (she couldn't keep the memory of Jesse's hand holding hers from her mind), it also felt good.

"I know…we just have to take it slow, right?" He said after a few moments. She nodded her head at him. "I would love it if we could meet again. I know that you want to ease into this—me meeting Melody." She nodded her head again.

"Yeah, that is probably for the best. I need to hear more about your plans and your schedule and see your place…" She paused, knowing that could sound forward—if it were Jesse, he would have made a suggestive joke. She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to get him off her mind. "You know, make sure it'll be okay if she is there in the future. We gotta talk about the future, too…"

"You still planning on going to LA?" He asked after a moment, and she smiled that he remembered that was her goal even at fifteen. "So, you mean that when you say the future—you are gonna be here for only four years or so, and then you are moving away." Beca nodded her head, and Shane sighed.

"It is my goal…"

"So, I gotta figure out a lot of shit, get settled here, and maybe have to move again." She looked at him in shock, stopping to turn and face him. She pulled her hand from his, knowing that they were very close to the station, and she could make out Jesse's form better. "Once I get into her life, I am not letting her out of it again, Becky. I am telling you the truth—I'm in this." Shane smiled at her. "I'm not gonna make you give up your dream for LA just cause I decided to show up three years after she was born. I'll go to LA, too, instead of trying to make you stay here." He paused. "I want to work on our relationship, too…I'm hoping that maybe we could start over again."

Hearing those words leave his mouth made Beca feel even more conflicted. Shane was saying all of the right things—things that were making her wonder if they could start over—they could be a family. She bit her lip, looking away, and she felt even worse, because her eyes locked with Jesse's. He had finally found her in the crowd of the people walking along the street. She blew out a breath, unsure, wrapping her arms around herself. She focused back on Shane again. "Shane," she said, shaking her head.

"Too soon?" He laughed, and she nodded her head. "Got it…we will take that one step at a time, too. Shall we?" He asked, waving his hand. She stared at him for a moment, before turning and leading the rest of the way to the station. And, to Jesse.

"Beca, hey…" Jesse said as they got closer. His voice was tight, and he was staring at her (and Shane) like he was in pain. She smiled at him, reaching out to grab the bag from the top of the pizza box.

"Thanks for picking up lunch…" She said quickly. She licked her bottom lip, quickly. "Um, Jesse, this is Shane…" She said, nodding her head toward the marine standing beside her. "Shane, this is Jesse." Shane smiled, extending a hand to Jesse. The brunette boy shifted the box against his hip so that he could shake hands with the other man.

"Shane Huntley," Shane said, shaking Jesse's hand firmly.

"Jesse Swanson," Jesse said, trying to keep the weirdness out of his voice. Shane didn't seem to notice, and he dropped Jesse's hand, wrapping an arm around Beca's waist to pull her into another hug.

"I'm glad that we got to meet today. Can we do lunch or dinner sometime this week?" He asked as he released her.

"Um, yeah…I work the early shift on Thursday, so we could probably do dinner then. Seven?" She said, not daring to look at Jesse.

"Cool. I will cook, and you can check out my place." Okay, so maybe he was trying to stake a claim to Beca in front of Jesse, because he picked up on something between the two of them. He made the invitation sound like a date, rather than her catching up with an old friend and the father of her child.

"Yeah, I will need to make sure it is safe for Mel." She said quickly.

"Make sure that it is vegetarian," Jesse said after a moment. Shane looked over at him, eyes narrowed.

"Excuse me?"

"Beca's a vegetarian. Bad morning sickness." Beca gave Jesse a warning look, because he and Shane were fighting over her as if she wasn't even there. "She doesn't eat meat."

"Really?" Shane said after a moment, turning to focus on Beca. He nodded his head after she gave him a tight smile. "I make a mean lasagna. I spent most of my time watching the cooking shows while I was in recovery. Then, after I was able to walk and stand for longer periods of time, I started cooking some of the shit I saw on TV." He grinned smugly. "I think I am pretty good at it."

"Cool, looking forward to it. I better get to work, Shane. It was great seeing you today. Bye!" She leaned up on her toes to press a kiss to his cheek and walked past him. "Jesse, let's go!" She rushed inside and made her way to the desk, setting down the brown bag and her school bag. Jesse followed behind her, setting the pizza down. He was close enough to her, that their arms were pressed against each others as they opened up the pizza box and the salads. He didn't say anything, and Beca was sure that he was trying to process everything that happened. She blew out a breath, turning to look at him. "Say something…"

Jesse stilled, not saying a word. He brought a bite of salad up to his lips, chewing slowly. Beca groaned, laying a hand on his arm when he stabbed more lettuce and a tomato with his fork, ready to take another bite. "So, that was Shane?" He said finally.

"Yeah…" She nodded her head.

"He's nice…" His voice was tight, and she squeezed his forearm, where her hand was still resting. "He's really attractive…You didn't tell me what he looked like, aside from tattoos." She rolled her eyes, because he always felt envious of Luke's body and accent when the older guy flirted with Beca in front of Jesse, so to be faced with Shane, the brunette must be freaking out. Shane was hell of a lot more competition now that he had seen him, and Beca knew that he wanted her to assuage his fears, but she couldn't. She didn't know what she felt about Shane, because she had only spent about an hour with him.

"He joined the marines after he graduated. He did two tours and got hurt." She paused. "He knew that he wanted to get in contact with me, because he lived and realized that he should be a better dad to Mel." She bit her bottom lip, turning back to her food to eat a little bit of the salad. "My mom attacked him a grocery store, and he found out I was living here, so he moved down here to get to know Mel and to make it up to us." Jesse scoffed quietly next to her. "Jess," she put down her food and turned to him. "This dinner…it is so that he and I can talk and figure things out. I need to check out his place, because of Mel. This isn't a date…"

"Did things go well with him today?" He asked after a few moments. She nodded her head. "Did he apologize for everything that he did?" She nodded her head again. "Do you think that you can start to move on then?" She chewed on her bottom lip, knowing that he was asking her if she was going to fall for Shane again. She wasn't sure, because things had been so easy with him today. She rolled her eyes, trying to play it off like he was worrying about nothing. "That isn't an answer, Beca."

"I want to," she told him honestly after a few moments. "I am not ready for any kind of relationship with anyone, Jesse." That was the truth. Even if she realized she still had feelings for Shane, she wasn't ready to begin dating. It would be a hell of a lot easier if things did work out with the father of her daughter, but she wasn't going to jump feet first into anything until she knows she can trust Shane with Mel. Hell, she trusted Jesse with Mel, but she still didn't want to pursue anything with him at that moment. Mainly because the brunette boy scared her—the feelings she had for him were way more frightening than the ones she was feeling conflicted about towards Shane.

"Great…that is just…how do I compete with that?" He asked, waving a hand toward the door of the station. She frowned, knowing that he meant Shane's appearance, their history, and the fact that he is Mel's father.

"Jesse," she shook her head. "You don't have to compete with him." She whispered.

"Then go out on a date with me," Jesse said, taking her hands in his, interlacing both sets of their fingers. "Show me that I don't have to compete." She shook her head.

"I can't…" She whispered.

"Because you still have feelings for him."

"She's his dad, Jesse! He is the guy that I lost my virginity to! He was my first boyfriend!" She pulled her hands from his, burying her face in them. She groaned loudly. "I'm always going to have this huge connection to him, because of Mel. I am always going to have feelings for him. They are never going to go away. I just…I need you to be patient with me, because this is confusing and crazy and I don't have any idea how to navigate any of this." She said, dropping her hands to her sides. "Please…"

"I already told you that I am going to wait for you, Beca," Jesse began, but he didn't continue. He looked away from her, staring at the greasy pizza that was starting too cool. "It just makes me nervous, because he is all of those things, and I'm not. I am the one you can drop easily, Beca." She reached up to lay a hand on his cheek. He turned to look her in the eye again.

"I'm not giving you up," Beca whispered. "You are keeping me sane in all of this—way saner than Donald or Aubrey or my parents or Chloe ever could." She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him into a hug. Jesse's arms wrapped around her waist instantly, holding her tightly against his body; he buried his face into her neck.

"I really like you, Becs…please don't hurt me." He whispered, and she felt like her heart was going to fall into her stomach. She didn't want to hurt him. She wished that she didn't feel so conflicted about everything. She wished that things weren't so complicated. She wished that she knew what she wanted—who she wanted. She wished that she could just give into what Jesse wanted and needed from her.

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**Author's Note: So, it begins! Who will Beca chose? Shane or Jesse? Hmmmm. I know you all probably hate me, because I included Beca/Shane.  
**


	7. Chapter 7

**Unbroken**

**Chapter 7**

**A **_**Pitch Perfect **_**Story**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything familiar.**

**Song Recommendation: **_**Somewhere Over the Rainbow**_** by whoever you want (no lyrics are being used—I am partial to the Glee version, purely for the instrumentals I used in this chapter); **_**Lucky**_** by Jason Mraz ft. Colbie Caillat**

**Author's Note: Wow! The response to the last chapter was pretty insane. You guys either HATED Shane or you really liked him. There were a couple of Shane/Beca shippers, which was surprising. Don't hate them, though, everyone else, because I am doing my job right if you guys are torn about who Beca should wind up with. As for those of you who kind of hate Beca due to the last chapter, again, I am glad, because it means I am doing my job right. Beca is VERY FLAWED. This situation she is in is crazy complicated; she likes this guy, but he isn't the father of her daughter; the father comes back into the picture and wants to start over with her, but she doesn't know if she should trust him or hate him or what. It is a crazy situation to be in. She has a lot of decisions to make about who she wants to be with. I hope you all like or respond to this chapter like the last. **

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Beca hardly slept for the rest of the week. She was feeling so mixed up since the meeting with Shane on Monday. He said all the right things, but what did that mean? Did he really mean it? Then, there was Jesse. She liked him so much, and she hated hurting him, but couldn't seem to stop herself from letting him in, but then pushing him away. Beca hated herself for it, because he was such a good person. She tried to keep her conflicted feelings from Mel (and her parents and Aubrey and Chloe and Donald and hell, Shane and Jesse). She was trying to hold herself together. She hoped for the perfect excuse to get out of the dinner on Thursday. She wasn't ready to see where Shane lived. Not until she felt more comfortable with his reappearance in her life and his desire to become involved in Melody's. If she had known what was coming—her excuse—she wouldn't have wished it on her worst enemy.

Beca has decided that she knows what the worst thing in the entire world is: a three year old with a stomach bug. Mel spent all of Wednesday complaining that she didn't feel good. She didn't have a fever or a cough or anything that showed that she was sick. The little girl just didn't feel good, and she was more fatigued and irritable than usual, so Beca figured that the little girl was going to come down with a cold. What she wasn't expecting was for Mel to scream like someone was murdering her in her bed in the middle of the night, scaring the shit out of Beca who was trying her best to get _some_ sleep.

At first, Beca thought that Mel had a nightmare; the little girl was at an age when she should be starting to self-soothe, so Beca wanted to wait a little bit to see if Mel could quiet herself down. Unfortunately, Mel continued to cry and scream for her, so Beca got up to see what was wrong. It looked like a crime scene in and around Mel's bed. There was _so much_ puke everywhere. It looked like when Aubrey had one of her stress-induced freak outs. Beca almost threw up herself, because it was so fucking _gross_, but she needed to pull herself together for Mel's sake. The little girl was crying hysterically. "Shh, baby! It's okay!" Beca bit her lip. "Give mommy a moment. She is gonna go call Grandpa and Grandma for help, okay?" She ran out of Mel's room to grab her cell phone from where it was charging in her room. She ran back into Mel's room, the phone pressed to her ear, willing it to ring _faster_.

"Momma, I don't feel so good." Mel whimpered, clutching her stomach for a moment before projectile vomiting again. Beca froze, waiting for the little girl to stop puking. The smell was horrible.

"Beca? What's wrong?" Her dad asked.

"Um, I need some help. Mel's room is covered in puke. I need to get her bathed, changed, and back in bed, but there is so much puke. Like her bed, the floor, everything, is covered."

"Okay, we will be there in a few minutes. You get started on Mel, and we will clean up her room." Beca hung up the phone and set it down on the end table by Mel's bed. She carefully lowered the mesh barrier on that side of the bed.

"C'mere, sweetie. Mommy's gonna get you cleaned up." She held her arms out for Mel, who immediately clung to her. She tried to not grimace, because there was puke pressed against the front of her. She made her way into the bathroom, kicking the bathroom mat out of the way, and putting Mel down on the bare tile. She stripped the little girl of her clothing, putting them in a pile to rinse later. "Stay right here." Beca told Mel as she turned on the water to start warming it up. She then made her way into the hall to grab two clean towels and then her bedroom for her bathrobe, being careful to not have them touch any puke that was on her person and clothing. She set the towels on the closed toilet seat and hung the bathrobe up on the hook behind the bathroom door. After she closed it, she tested the water. When she saw it was the perfect temperature, she stared filling the tub. "Momma's gonna wash you off, okay, baby?" Mel nodded her head.

Beca removed her own clothing, trying to not get any puke in her hair. She picked Mel up and climbed into the bathtub, sitting down with the little girl in front of her. She reached for the baby shampoo and the portable shower head (she was so glad that her dad installed that in the bathroom before she moved into the guest house, because it made bathing Mel so much easier), rinsing the little girl's body and hair. Beca began washing Mel, hearing the door to the guest house open and her dad call out that he and Sheila were there.

"Mel and I are in the bathtub." She yelled to them. She finished rinsing the shampoo from Mel's hair, adding a little bit of conditioner and then proceeded to wash her own body and hair. When she was done with both herself and Mel, she carefully climbed out of the tub so that she didn't fall, drying herself off and then throwing the bathrobe on. She then helped Mel out of the bathtub, drying the little girl off. She left the bathtub full of the soapy, dirty water, ready to rinse the sheets and clothes before they went into the washer. She opened the bathroom door and carried a towel-wrapped Mel towards her room. She saw that the sheets were stripped from the bed and the mattress had been spot-cleaned where needed. Sheila had put all of the bed linens in a laundry basket, while Daniel was cleaning up the floor. "Her clothes and my towel are on the floor of the bathroom, and I left the bathtub full of water to rinse everything out before it goes in the washer." Sheila nodded, leaving the room after she got the towel that Mel had wrapped up in.

Beca quickly dressed Mel in some new clothing. She thanked her dad for his help before she carried Mel into her room. She pulled her comforter from her bed (it was too big to fit in the washing machine and would require a trip to the Laundromat to get cleaned if it were to be puked on). She put Mel in her bed and laid next to her, quietly singing _Somewhere Over the Rainbow_ to her until the little girl fell asleep. She went to find Sheila and her dad. "Poor Mel," her dad muttered as he added the last of wet, dirtied items to the washing machine. Beca nodded her head, feeling exhausted.

"Thank you guys for all your help…" She pressed a hand to her forehead. "I can't even get over how much this would have sucked if I didn't have help." She muttered. Sheila and her dad lived in the same general area as her and available to help, but if she had been alone, she didn't know if she could have stayed calm for Mel. There was just so much to clean up.

"You would have managed," Sheila told her, laying a comforting hand on her arm. "You are a good Mom, Beca. You don't give yourself enough credit."

"Thank you." Beca smiled at Sheila, moved by her step-mother's kind words. She looked between Sheila and her dad. "Seriously, thank you both for everything." She groaned, thinking of all the things she needed to do. "I have to email all of my professors, and I have to text Luke and tell him I won't be able to make it in to work. Oh, and Shane."

"Shane?" Her dad asked, shocked. Beca's eyes widened, because, shit. She had never told him and Sheila about his reappearance.

"Oh, right…um, yeah. Shane moved to Atlanta. He got in contact with me and asked about getting involved in Mel's life. He and I were supposed to meet for dinner tonight to talk."

"You can't be serious about this, Beca." He shook his head, his arms crossed. Beca had never seen her dad look so pissed in her life.

"Dad, he is her father. I can't keep him out of her life if he wants in. He could take me to court. This way, I can control as much as possible." Her dad nodded his head after a few moments.

"Be careful, Beca." She wasn't sure what he was warning her about—not letting Shane in and then having him abandon Mel all over or letting Shane in and falling for him again. Maybe even both.

"I am, Dad." She told him, but she still wasn't sure if that was true. "Listen, can we talk about this later. I gotta get started on contacting everyone and check on Mel."

"I will start some coffee for you." Sheila told her, wondering off in the direction of the kitchen.

"I don't like that Shane is back, Beca, but I understand why you are doing it." He pulled Beca into a hug, kissing her temple. "We are here if you need anything else. We could take off—" He began, but Beca cut him off with a shake of her head.

"No, we'll be fine. If I need anything, I will call you. Thank you again. Tell Sheila thank you. I'm gonna check on Mel and then get started on everything." She said her goodbyes and then snuck back into her room. Mel was curled up in a ball, sound asleep. She was clutching one of her stuffed dogs.

Beca made her way back into Mel's room, opening one of the windows to air it out. She grabbed her cell phone and sent a text to Luke's phone, saying that Mel got sick and she couldn't make it to work that day. She also sent a text to Shane, asking to reschedule. She didn't expect to hear from Luke until the morning, but she hoped that Shane would get back to her soon. She then made her way to the kitchen to get a mug of coffee. She brought the steaming mug to the couch, placing it on the coffee table beside her laptop. She opened her laptop, loading up the internet. She sent the emails to her professors, telling them that she wouldn't be in class that day because Mel was ill. She then sent an email to Luke, just to be sure that he knew she wasn't coming in.

Beca sipped her coffee, finishing the mug before going to make another. She brought the new mug of coffee and her phone into her room, placing them both on her end table. She turned on the lamp so that the room lit up slightly. She snuck back into the living room to grab her laptop and a textbook, ready to get some work done while she let Mel sleep. After about an hour of doing some schoolwork and sipping her second mug of coffee, Beca's eyes began to burn from exhaustion. It was nearly three in the morning, and Mel had only stirred once. She set both her laptop and the textbook on the floor by her bed. She was tired, but she wasn't at the same time. She grabbed her phone, sliding down in her bed slightly.

Beca stared at the blank text message screen for a long time, deciding whether or not she should do what she wanted to do. She bit her lip, unsure, but eventually her heart beat her head. She quickly sent a text to Jesse. _I won't be in work later today. Mel got really sick, so I am staying home with her today. Just thought I would let you know._

Within a few moments, Beca's phone buzzed with a response from Jesse. She felt guilty for waking him, but she was surprised (and slightly pleased) to see that he had responded to her so quickly, considering that Shane didn't and he was Mel's dad. _Oh, no! Is she okay? What happened? Are you okay? Do you need anything? _As she was reading his first text, her phone buzzed, indicating another text from Jesse. _By the way, I wasn't going to work today. Trish asked me to switch shifts with her._ Beca bit her lip, smiling at his concern. When she read that he wasn't going to be at work, she was momentarily relieved that Mel got sick so she didn't have to work with the redhead, but then she felt awful, because no mom should be relieved that her kid is sick. That's fucked up.

_It looks like she picked up a stomach bug from school. She threw up everywhere. It was pretty gross. She is sleeping now. Thank you for your concern, Jesse. I'm fine though. I'm sorry if I woke you._ She set her phone down and went to switch the laundry to the dryer. She returned to her room to see that Jesse had responded to her text. _I was up. I am pulling an all-nighter. I got a paper due, and I am almost done it. Your texts are a welcomed break. Even if they are about puke. :( Yuck. I'm here if you need anything. Food, mindless conversation, company, whatever._

Beca rolled onto her side, facing Mel, running a hand through the little girl's curls. She didn't have a fever, but her face was pale and she was sweating. Beca frowned, feeling so bad for her little girl. She focused back on her response to Jesse. _Thanks for the offer. I will let you know if I need anything. I am okay for now, though. What's your paper on?_ She knew that she should let him get back to work, but she couldn't seem to stop herself from texting him. She loved talking to him, even if it was about stupid stuff.

_Symbolism in Poe's works. You know, the Raven, the Tell-Tale-Heart, etc. He was a real downer, but one cool dude. I can dig it. His shit is real dark—he probably inspired a shit ton of horror movies._ Beca rolled her eyes. Of course Jesse would turn the conversation into something about movies. He was such an idiot. She smiled to herself, because it was so _him_ to do something like that.

_Of course you would make this about movies. Thank you for talking to me. I will let you finish up your paper so that you could maybe get some sleep before you have to go to classes and stuff. Enjoy your night off work. Goodnight, Jesse._ She set the phone aside, drinking the last of her coffee. She was exhausted. She knew that she needed to get some sleep so she could spend the day caring for Mel. Her phone buzzed, and she grabbed it, frowning. _What's happening with tonight?_

Beca ran a hand through her hair, deciding to be honest with him. _I texted Shane to tell him that I have to cancel tonight and to see if we can reschedule. He hasn't gotten back to me yet. _Within a few moments, her phone lit up with a response from Jesse. _The ass didn't even call you or text you to see what's up with Mel? He's her dad, Beca. He should be freaking out, wanting to know what is wrong with her._ She hated that he said exactly what she was thinking. She didn't want to admit it to herself that Shane might not be as committed to Mel as he keeps saying he is. _Maybe he didn't even realize it was from me. I usually have my phone on silent, except for important calls from important people. Maybe he doesn't know I texted him. This is pretty new for him. _

Beca didn't know why she was defending Shane. It was a major red flag in her opinion that he didn't get back to her as soon as possible after she told him that Mel gotten sick. If Mel was older, then maybe she could understand him not getting back to her right away, but she is still so tiny. Plus, he is trying to involve himself in her life, so wouldn't he want to know everything about what is going on in hers? She bit her lip, because her phone was silent for awhile. Then, finally, Jesse responded. _I never would have left you to deal with raising Mel on your own, but if I was in his position, saying I wanted to be involved in her life after all these years, I would never have my phone on silent, always waiting for the moment when you might need me. Because, Beca, that is what dads do. It's not okay that he isn't trying to at least find out what is up with Mel._ She wiped at a tear that slipped down her cheek. She didn't want him to be right. This was a huge decision to be involved in Mel's life, and he was already falling short. She hated that Jesse was right. _Fuck_.

_Shane isn't you, Jesse. He was always more concerned about himself than anyone else. He said he was ready for the responsibility of being a dad, but a person doesn't change overnight. It is going to take some adjusting._ Again, Beca hated that she was defending him. She glanced at the sleeping form in the bed beside her. Mel deserved someone who loved her completely. She needed someone who was going to be there for her, whenever she needed him or her. Was Shane ready for the responsibility of being a dad? She was scared that he wasn't going to take it seriously enough. _Okay, Beca. You know best._ She hated how defeated Jesse's text seemed. She quickly responded. _I am trying to be optimistic, Jesse. The alternative is too upsetting to think about. I don't want this to be half-hearted, because Mel deserves better. _

Beca wiped at her cheeks again, feeling beyond exhausted. She didn't want to fight with Jesse over texts. She yawned, rubbing a hand over her face. Her phone buzzed on her stomach, and she quickly opened the text from him. _I'm sorry. I'm looking for every little thing that could go wrong with him, because I am being a selfish dick. Mel is the most important thing. Forgive me?_ She smiled at his message. She couldn't be mad at him, because he was right about all of it; he was being so kind and patient with her. He was such a good person. _There is nothing to forgive, Jesse. I know you are looking out for me and Mel. You are a good person. I want Mel to be able to know her dad. I just wish that this wasn't so complicated._

Beca yawned again. She was so exhausted. It was time to get a couple of hours of sleep. Her phone buzzed again in her hand. _I know it is. I'm sorry for making it more complicated for you. I want Mel to know her dad, too. She should know him, and he should want to be involved in her life. She is pretty amazing, just like her mom. Even if things with Shane don't work out, just know that you have Donald, Chloe, Aubrey, your parents, and me. :)_ She smiled at his text. God, why did things have to be so weird? He was perfect, but she was beyond scared. Then, there was her strange, complicated relationship with Shane. It was all too much, and it was making her tired. _Hahaha, thanks, Jesse. Alright, I am so tired. Gonna get as much sleep as I can before Mel wakes and needs me. Goodnight. Good luck on your paper! Thanks again for talking to me. _A few moments later, he texted her back. _Goodnight, Becs. Anytime you need to talk, I'm here to listen. Xoxox_ Beca settled into the bed, on her side facing Mel's sleeping form. Her conversation with Jesse simultaneously calmed and upset her. She needed to focus on Mel, now.

* * *

A few hours later, Beca woke to Mel shaking her upper arm. She sat up instantly, looking at Mel in concern. "What's wrong, Mels-Bells? Do you feel sick again?" Mel nodded her head, and Beca pulled the little girl from the bed and rushed her to the bathroom. While she was emptying what little she had in her stomach into the toilet bowl, Beca whispered comforting words into her ear as she rubbed the little girl's back. When Mel was finished, Beca helped the little girl rinse her mouth out. She then brought her back to her bed before heading for the kitchen to get Mel a sippy cup filled with water. She returned to her room with the water, helping Mel drink it. Once her daughter was settled into the bed, fast asleep, Beca went to take a shower and to remake Mel's bed.

Once Mel's bed was made up, the laundry was put away, and Beca had checked her email to see that her professors and Luke understood that she couldn't be in, she made herself a small breakfast of cereal and orange juice and got some homework done in her bed while she waited for Mel to wake up again. The little girl was probably going to be a little hungry, so Beca was prepared to make her one slice of lightly buttered toast to tide her over for a bit. She tore a sheet of paper from the back of her notebook and began complying a list of groceries she would ask someone to go pick up for her that would be flu-friendly for a three-year old. At about nine-thirty, Beca's phone buzzed. The text was from Shane. She took a deep breath before reading it. _Becky, how's Mel? I'm sorry I didn't get back to you until now, but my phone was on silent because I got a job at one of the bars near your campus so that I had some money coming in while I figured out my next step. Last night was my first night, and I had my phone on silent. When I got back from work, I immediately crashed, so I didn't even check my phone until this morning. I'm so sorry._

Beca bit her lip, because it seemed like a legitimate excuse. He got a job—at a bar, where late nights were required—so that he could be financially responsible. The late nights meant he would be tired when he got back. It made sense why he wouldn't text until now. She responded to his text. _It's fine. I'm glad that you got a job. Raising a kid is expensive. She has a stomach bug, can't keep anything down. She is sleeping it off right now. _Mel started to stir, so she texted that she can't talk, because Mel was getting up. She set her phone aside and started preparing Mel something to eat and getting her new water. She helped Mel back into her bed, reading her a story and then putting a Disney movie on for the little girl to watch. She fell asleep about twenty minutes into the movie.

* * *

At eleven, there was a knock on the door, startling Beca, because all of the people she would expect would have just walked in. She walked over to the door and opened it, her mouth dropping open when she saw Jesse standing there. "What the hell are you doing here?" She asked shocked, taking one of the grocery bags from his arms. His entire person was covered in things. She led him into the kitchenette/living area of her small guest house, putting the grocery bag down on the counter. Jesse did the same with the other one. He then proceeded to put down what appeared to be a tiny guitar case on the floor, and then removed a larger guitar case that was slung over his shoulder and his schoolbag. She waved her hand at all of the stuff. "What the hell is all of this?"

"I brought supplies." She cocked an eyebrow at him. "How's Mel doing?"

Beca smiled at his thoughtfulness, and the two of them started unloading the grocery bag. "She's doing well. She is asleep right now. You would be so mad, but she fell asleep during _Enchanted_." Jesse mock-gasped, with his eyes widened in horror; she rolled her eyes and focused on her bag of groceries. There were three Tupperware containers of what appeared to be soup, several boxes of lightly salted crackers, and two big bottles of juice—apple and grape. Jesse's bag was had a bottle of orange juice and a bottle of vegetable juice, oranges, bananas, apple sauce, potatoes, a loaf of bread, a bottle of ginger ale, a box of lemon-flavored tea, and a box of sugar-free, frozen, popsicles. "You didn't have to do all of this, Jess," she said as they put away all of the groceries.

"It's no biggie. The smaller Tupperware is chicken noodle, the one with the blue lid. I didn't know if Mel was vegetarian, too, but it has been medically proven that chicken noodle does in fact make you feel better. The other two, the ones with the red lids, they are vegetable and noodle, made with vegetable stock. They are all homemade." Beca looked at him in surprise.

"You made them?" Jesse shrugged. "The chicken noodle is perfect for her. Thank you."

"It's no biggie. I started with the vegetable soup, and I made a lot of it, because I figured you might wind up getting sick, so I wanted to have some soup ready for you. You could freeze them. Then, I made some chicken noodle, for Mel." He shrugged again. "The guys nearly pounced when they saw I made soup. They are like kids, so I told them that I would make more soup for them all if they all cleaned the house and then went and bought the ingredients. I gave them a very detailed list of ingredients I need to make the soups."

Beca laughed, leaning against the counter to stare at Jesse. She didn't know what to make with him. "As for the juice—fluids are really important. I brought a bunch of one-hundred-percent juice, because I figured you would like that better for Mel than stuff with preservatives and fake stuff in it. Oh, and I brought a bottle of ginger ale and the tea. I figured you might not want to give Mel the soda, or at least not a lot of it, but you are probably gonna get sick, so the tea and the soda would be a good idea for you. Then, the oranges for vitamin C. The bananas, apple sauce, bread, and potatoes—for baked or mashed potatoes—are all relatively bland in flavor, so they will help with the nausea and give good nutrients. Oh, and the popsicles are for when you guys are on the mend and feel like celebrating." She stood up and walked over to him, wrapping her arms around his waist, giving him a tight hug.

"Thank you. This is beyond sweet," she whispered against his chest. He returned the hug, leaning over to press a light kiss to the top of her head.

"It's no biggie." He whispered into her hair. After a few moments, she pulled out of his arms. She pointed to the other items that she left on the floor nearby.

"What's all that?" Jesse laughed, running a hand through his hair. Beca cocked an eyebrow at him. "Well?"

"I figured you haven't had much sleep, because you were taking care of Mel, so I thought that I might help you out a little—if you don't mind, of course. You could take a nap, and I could entertain Mel. I brought some kid-friendly movies, of course. I wasn't sure what kind of movies you had, so I have a ton of Disney movie. Oh, and _The Princess Bride_, because it is a classic. The kid in the movie is sick, and the grandfather reads him the book, which is depicted in the movie, and wow, you really don't care." She shook her head, smirking at him. "Right, so I brought that movie, but there is a death and stuff in it, so I wasn't sure if you would want me to show it to her." He moved over to where his school bag was to pull out the DVD in question. "Here." Beca glanced at it and thought it didn't look to bad. Mel would probably sleep through it anyways, so it didn't seem like that big of a deal.

"She would probably sleep through it." She told him, and he nodded, returning the DVD to his bag. "The guitars?"

"Well, one is a guitar—my guitar. The other is actually my ukulele." Beca cocked an eyebrow at Jesse.

"You play the ukulele? You _own_ a ukulele?"

"Did I not tell you that? Sorry, that is one of the string instruments I play—the guitar, violin, ukulele—they are all pretty similar." She shook her head. "Right, so I brought them, because I figured that I could entertain Mel with some music if she didn't want to do the movie thing."

Beca turned toward the cabinet to grab two glasses, because she couldn't look at him anymore. He was entirely too sweet, and she just wanted to throw him down and shove her tongue down his throat, which is not exactly in line with the whole being friends thing or the whole not hurting him thing. She glanced over her shoulder at him as she opened the fridge to grab a couple of sodas. "You want some?" He nodded his head. "Ice?" He nodded again.

Beca prepared their two drinks, handing one to Jesse. "How are you?" He asked her, reaching out to slide a lock of hair behind her ear.

"I'm tired." She told him honestly.

"Did you hear from Shane?" She nodded. "What did he say?"

"He got a job at a bar and last night was his first shift. He had his phone on silent while he worked and he came back and fell right to sleep, not even realizing it was still on silent." He took a sip of his drink, obviously to stop himself from speaking. She rolled her eyes. "I'll be right back. I'm gonna check on Mel."

Beca made her way towards her room, climbing onto her bed to see how Mel was doing. The little girl had a light fever and was mumbling in her sleep. Beca smoothed some of the damp curls off of Mel's forehead. "Hey, little one," she whispered when Mel opened her eyes. "Do you need to get sick?" Mel nodded her head, and Beca carried her to the bathroom. She held the little girl in her arms while she got sick, whispering to her. "Someone stopped by to say hello." She said when Mel stopped throwing up. "He brought you a couple of surprises. Think you could say hello?" The little girl nodded, so Beca stood up and then picked her up, settling her onto her hip.

She cared Mel into the living room, rubbing her back with her hand. "Look, Mel, Jesse's here." She whispered. The little girl picked her head up off of Beca's shoulder and gave Jesse a sad smile and a half-hearted wave.

"Hey, Mels. I heard you aren't feeling well. Do you want some soup?" He asked her. The little girl nodded, and Beca got her into her child seat while Jesse pulled out chicken noodle. She pointed out which cabinet and which drawer he could find a bowl, a sippy cup, and spoon. After he heated a small amount of soup up in the microwave, Jesse set it before Mel with a few crackers and some apple juice. Mel ate most of her soup, all of her crackers, and most of her juice, she yawned. "Becs, why don't you take a nap, and Mel and I can watch some movies or play some music. Would you like to watch a movie or play some music with me?"

"Okay," Mel said quietly. Beca frowned, because she hated to see her little girl like this. She ran a hand through Mel's messy curls and pressed a kiss to her head. Jesse put Mel's dishes in the sink and then helped the little girl from her seat and brought her to the couch. Beca went to grab one of Mel's stuffed animals and a blanket for the little girl to snuggle under on the couch. Jesse put in _Beauty and the Beast_ and the two of them settled on the couch to watch the movie. Beca watched them for a few minutes before she walked back to her room, she climbed into her side of the bed. She closed her eyes and fell asleep.

* * *

Beca woke up about three hours later. She was starving. She climbed out of her bed and ran a brush through her hair, pulling it up into a loose bun on the back of her head. She wiped at her eyes, groaning when she realized that she never put makeup on today, and Jesse saw her looking like a mess in a pair of stretched out yoga pants, a tank top, and a sweatshirt jacket. She rolled her eyes, over it, because she was just happy that she wasn't covered in her kid's puke.

Beca made her way down the hallway, stopping before she made it into the living room/kitchenette area, because she heard Jesse and Mel playing the guitar (and ukulele). "You're sounding really great, Mel. Here, let me fix your finger." She popped her head around the corner to see that Jesse and Mel were seated beside each other, watching as Jesse helped adjust her hands on the ukulele. The little girl squealed excitedly when she made a note that didn't sound horrible. Beca bit her lip to keep from grinning at the scene in front of her. "Good! You keep up with these lessons, and soon you are going to be able to play like this." He began playing the guitar, and it took everything in Beca not to swoon, because there is seriously nothing sexier in her opinion than a musician. And, well, Jesse had the voice and the instrumental skills.

"Wow. I wanna do that!" Mel said, clapping her hands.

"And, you will! We can convince your mom to let me give you lessons. Does she play for you?" Mel nodded her head.

"Yeah, we always play music on Saturdays. I plays the pots!" She giggled, pretending to bang imaginary pots.

"Wow! You must be good at them! Maybe when your mommy wakes up, we can all play some music." Mel nodded her head, clearly excited by the idea. "Mel, I want you to put your hand like this and then play this note over and over, okay?" Jesse showed her how to position her hand, and they began playing the same note over and over. "Good, keep going. I'm gonna play a song. You might recognize it. Sing along when you do, okay?" He began playing, and Beca recognized the song instantly. He was playing _Somewhere Over the Rainbow_ for Mel. The two of them began singing, with Mel completely off-key. Beca rested against the wall, watching them. After a few moments, they stopped playing.

"You has a really pretty voice, Jesse! Play something else!" Mel moved the ukulele to the couch beside her and turned her whole body to face Jesse. Beca smiled at her little girl.

Jesse glanced up and saw Beca standing in the doorway between the hallway and the living room/kitchenette area. "Alright, I will play another song, but you gotta turn around and tell Mommy she has to sing with me." Mel turned around and used the back of the couch to stand up.

"Momma! Come sing with us!" Beca nodded. She walked over to Mel, picking her up so that she was seated in her lap. She noticed that the little girl's color was coming back, and she wasn't as warm anymore. It looked like she was starting to recover from her stomach bug. She pressed a kiss to the little girl's head. She nodded to Jesse.

"This is my favorite song." He said casually, and he began playing the guitar. Beca's eyebrow rose when she realized what song it was, and he just smirked, beginning to sing.

"_Do you hear me; I'm talking to you  
Across the water; across the deep blue ocean  
Under the open sky; oh, my, baby, I'm trying_." She rolled her eyes, starting the next verse.

"_Boy, I hear you in my dreams  
I feel your whisper across the sea  
I keep you with me in my heart  
You make it easier when life gets hard_." Jesse joined Beca for the chorus.

"_Lucky I'm in love with my best friend  
Lucky to have been where I have been  
Lucky to be coming home again  
Ooohh ooooh oooh oooh ooh ooh ooh ooh."_ Beca started the next verse, and Jesse came in after a few moments, repeating her line, like Jason Mraz did with Colbie Caillat. She shook her head, because he was being really ballsy with this move. In front of her daughter, too.

"_They don't know how long it takes_  
_(they don't know how long it takes)_  
_Waiting for a love like this_  
_Every time we say goodbye_  
_(every time we say goodbye)_  
_I wish we had one more kiss_  
_I'll wait for you; I promise you; I will, I'm…" _The two of them harmonized for the chorus, eyes locked.

"_Lucky I'm in love with my best friend_  
_Lucky to have been where I have been_  
_Lucky to be coming home again_  
_Lucky we're in love in every way_  
_Lucky to have stayed where we have stayed_  
_Lucky to be coming home someday._" Jesse took the next verse, smirking the entire time. Mel bobbed her head from Beca's lap.

"_And so I'm sailing through the sea_  
_To an island where we'll meet_  
_You'll hear the music fill the air_  
_I'll put a flower in your hair." _Beca harmonized with a couple of the words of Jess's verse and then starting on the next verse.

"_Though the breezes through the trees  
Move so pretty, you're all I see  
As the world keeps spinning round  
You hold me right here right now."_ The two of them finished the song off, harmonizing.

"_Lucky I'm in love with my best friend_  
_Lucky to have been where I have been_  
_Lucky to be coming home again_  
_I'm lucky we're in love in every way_  
_Lucky to have stayed where we have stayed_  
_Lucky to be coming home someday_

"_Ooohh ooooh oooh oooh ooh ooh ooh ooh_  
_Ooooh ooooh oooh oooh ooh ooh ooh ooh_."

"That was so pretty! Again!" Mel said, clapping. Beca scrunched her nose at the pleased look on Jesse's face.

"Mommy's hungry, baby girl. Why don't you play some more on the ukulele for me?" She said, standing up and putting Mel back down on the couch. Mel grabbed it and began playing immediately. Beca made her way to the kitchenette, grabbing her own bowl of the soup Jesse had brought them. When she took the first bite, she hummed in delight. "Holy crap, dude! This is beyond awesome." Jesse grinned as he made his way over to her after he made sure Mel was secured on the couch.

"Thanks. I've been told I am a good cook. The Trebles usually vote that I cook dinner on the nights when we can't afford take out and are too lazy to go to the dining halls." Beca rolled her eyes, enjoying her soup.

"Thank you for today. She loved that." She stared at her little girl as she strummed the ukulele happily, making more _bad_ notes than _good_ notes. "I fear that she doesn't have my musical ability. Shane was awful when it came to music; he couldn't sing worth a damn, let alone play an instrument. He was good at sports, which is where Mel gets her affinity to soccer from." She frowned, because it meant that her daughter had parts of her father even though she didn't know him.

"Ehh, she just needs to practice. I'm sure you weren't great at it when you first started. I know I wasn't. I'd love to give her lessons. She is really excited about music, probably because of you. She will pick up the guitar or the piano eventually."

Beca bit her lip, hesitating. She could see more afternoons like this, and it scared her, because Jesse was being an awesome daddy-figure when Mel's own dad wasn't really putting his best foot forward. She glanced at the hopeful look on Jesse's face. She groaned, her head falling back. "Fine. You can give her lessons. Sunday afternoons?" His face lit up, and he nodded.

"Totally! I could come here or you could come to the Treble house. We have a piano there, and I have my guitar, violin, viola, cello, and my ukulele. I will look around for child-sized guitars. It would make an awesome Christmas present." Beca rolled her eyes. He was getting far too excited over this.

"You realize she might lose interest." She warned him, but he just scoffed.

"No way! She has music in her blood, Becs. So, what are you guys doing for Halloween?" She grimaced, forgetting that the holiday was coming up.

"I don't know." She chewed on her bottom lip. She didn't know if Shane was going to be in the picture at that point or not. She also knew that the Bellas had a big shindig in the amphitheater where Hood Night was always hosted. "Aubrey, Chloe, and Donald always join us for the little bit of trick-or-treating that we do. Then, they go to the Bella party. I don't know if you Trebles do stuff with them or…" Jesse nodded his head.

"Yeah, since Aubrey and Donald started dating, we all started doing stuff together. You should take her out as a mini-Taylor Swift of something. Dress her up in cowboy boots, a skirt, a shirt with a cat face painted on it, sunglasses, red lipstick, and she can borrow my ukulele. Oh, and a blond wig. You could probably find one of the Disney princess ones and then cut the hair the right way." Beca just stared at him. "What?"

"A shirt with a cat face painted on it?"

"She has a cat. She always wears things with cats on it. She loves cats. Oh, and the number thirteen. Paint a thirteen on the back of the shirt." She started chuckling.

"How do you know so much about Taylor Swift?" Jesse blushed, shrugging. "Do you have a toner for Taylor Swift?" His brow furrowed in confusion.

"What the hell is a toner?"

"A musical boner." She whispered, making him laugh.

"Well, yes to the toner, and yes to the regular boner part." She groaned, smacking him on the chest, glancing at Mel who was still happily strumming the ukulele. She was getting better at some of the notes, so maybe Jesse was right about her having music in her blood from her mom.

"Gross." She muttered.

"But, I have a big boner for—" Beca instantly threw a hand over his mouth, not wanting him to say what he was about to say. She felt him smirking beneath her hand.

"Don't," she whispered. She dropped her hand slowly. Jesse took a step closer to her, placing his hands on her hips. Beca's heart felt like it was going to pound right out of her chest. She bit her bottom lip, knowing that if he kissed her in that moment, she would probably let him.

"Beca," Jesse began, but there was a knock on the door, making them both jump. Beca pulled away from him, walking over to the door. She opened it carefully, her jaw dropping open when she saw Shane standing on the other side of the door. She swallowed, feeling guilty all of a sudden. She didn't know if she felt guilty, because Jesse was here, allowed around Mel when Shane wasn't, or if she was guilty, because she was probably five seconds away from throwing Jesse out due to Shane's arrival.

"Shane, hi." Beca said, blocking his entrance to the guest house. "What are you doing here?"

"I brought you some ginger ale and crackers for Mel." Shane said, holding up a bag. She reached out for the bag, still not allowing him to enter.

"Thank you." She whispered.

"Can I come in?"

"Um, Mel's up…" She adjusted the bag in her hands.

"Beca, I know you are protective of Mel and aren't ready to meet her, but I'm trying here. You haven't responded to any of my texts all day when I was trying to check in."

"I know. I'm sorry. I have been busy. Mel spent most of today throwing up, but she looks like she is starting to feel a little better. I am going to keep her home from the preschool tomorrow, though, to be sure she is better." Yeah, she was busy hanging out with her daughter and another guy. How come she immediately felt comfortable leaving Jesse with Mel while she took a nap, but she didn't want to let Shane through the door?

"That's probably a good idea." Shane said, nodding his head. Beca tried to keep her face from showing how his phrasing pissed her off a little, like he knew anything about parenting sick kids. "Look, I know this whole thing is hard on you." He ran a hand down his face. "I really want to make this work between us, okay? For Mel. I'm sorry I have been such an ass in the past, and I really want to try to be there for you both now."

Beca smiled at him. He sounded sincere, and she felt herself begin to relax again. She heard Jesse shift behind her, but her focus was on Shane. "Thank you, Shane. I really appreciate that. So, I was thinking that maybe you and I could meet for lunch on Sunday? Mel's going to get piano and guitar lessons from Jesse on Sunday afternoons, so that would be the perfect time when we could talk."

Shane stared at her for a moment. "I'd love to do lunch on Sunday. What time?" She shrugged her shoulders. She and Jesse hadn't officially worked that out yet.

"I will let you know when."

"Yeah, and tell me how much the lessons are going to be. I will pay."

"Oh, he and I didn't even talk about that." She frowned. She didn't know if Jesse expected her to pay for the lessons. She didn't think he did, but she wasn't sure.

"Well, I would feel more comfortable if I paid for my daughter's lessons. Nothing in life is ever really free, right?" The way that he said it made Beca uncomfortable. Was he implying what she seriously thought he was implying?

"Jesse's a nice guy, Shane. I'm sure he was offering the lessons out of the goodness of his heart."

"I'm thinking that he was offering them because of a completely different appendage."

"Shane!" Beca glanced over her shoulder, seeing that Jesse had Mel in his arms, carrying her towards their bedrooms. He did not look pleased at all, and she knew that she was going to have to talk him down once Shane left.

"Sorry, but I don't trust the guy."

"Why not?" She put the bag down on the floor beside her. "You talked to him for five seconds the other day."

"What guy goes after a girl that has a three year old daughter?" Beca frowned.

"What's wrong with the idea of him being interested in me? Plenty of people date other people with kids. That is how step-parents happen."

"Well, yeah, but he's what? Nineteen, twenty? No guy goes for a chick with a three year old when they could have hot sorority girls." She crossed her arms and started to glare at him.

"Really? Says the guy who told me that he really wanted to get back together with me."

"Shit, I'm really putting my foot up my own ass right now. I just meant that no guy in their right mind goes for a girl with a kid when they are that age, because it means that responsibility and settling down and being a daddy when they don't have to be."

"So, you're here because you feel obligated to be here, because you are Mel's dad." Shane groaned, rubbing a hand over his face.

"I'm not making myself look good right now." He looked down at his hands for a moment, collecting his thoughts. "I am gonna be completely honest with you right now, and I don't want you to get pissed at me for saying it. Okay?" She just stared at him. "Fuck. Yes, there is a part of me that is here because I feel obligated. Now, before you start freaking out and telling me that I don't have to be here when I don't want to be, let me finish. I do want to be here. I do want to know my kid. I do want to try and fix us if I can, because you are her mom and we have this connection that is never going to go away. You are really important to me, and I want to fix our family. I get that things between you and I might not work out the way that I want it to, but it doesn't mean I'm not gonna try. So, yeah, there is a part of me that feels like I have to be here, because she is my kid, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. As much as I feel like I _have _to be here, the feeling of _wanting_ to be here is about a thousand times as strong. It is gonna take a lot for me to get you to know and understand that, but I am gonna do my best."

Beca didn't know what to say. The difference between him and her was that she didn't have any feelings of obligation towards being a mom. She made a decision to keep her baby, when she could have easily given Mel up for adoption. Shane didn't have to stay, didn't have to be a part of their lives. The part that stood out to her was the fact that he said he wanted to be there, that he was going to work hard at making her realize that the wanting went beyond the obligation. Then, there was the part about wanting to fix them, because of their connection through Mel. That isn't exactly a reason that made her feel good. Jesse made her feel good, because he accepted her—her strengths, her flaws, her daughter—and made her feel like she didn't have to change who she was to be with him. He made her feel like she was perfect as is. "Okay." That was all that she could say at the moment. She was really tired. This whole situation made her tired.

"Okay." Shane repeated. "Text me when you know more about Sunday." She nodded her head. "Also, I don't know what your plans with Mel are for Halloween, but I would really like to be there if I could. So, do you think that maybe we could try to speed up this whole process so that I could get to the part where I spend time with my daughter?" Beca swallowed.

"Let's see how Sunday goes, Shane." That was all she was going to say. She needed to figure out what was going on in her head. They needed to work out a schedule for when Shane got to see Mel. She needed to know what his work plans are. She needed to know a lot more about him, about his home, about his ideas of dating and Mel. There was a lot that they needed to discuss.

"Fine. I will talk to you soon. Kiss Mel for me." Beca nodded and shut the door. She picked up the bag of crackers and soda and put it on the counter. She saw Jesse reemerge from the hallway that led to their bedrooms.

"Hey, so Mel started to get tired and wanted to know who was at the door, so I put her down for another nap. I sang _Somewhere Over the Rainbow_ to her, and she fell asleep almost instantly." She nodded her head. He crossed over to where she was leaning against the counter. "You okay?"

Beca shrugged her shoulders. Jesse wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a hug. "I wasn't going to charge you anything for the lessons, but because he is a douche, tell him that I am charging twenty an hour. I will put the money toward our awesome first date." She didn't say anything, just laid her head against his chest, listening to his heart beat. He calmed her. "wow, you aren't okay? That didn't get a sigh, an eye roll, a punch to the gut, nothing the usual Beca gives me when I talk about our inevitable relationship." He tried to pull away from her, but she held onto him.

"I'm tired, Jesse. I'm tired and confused. I just don't want to deal with it anymore. I wish he never came back. It was so much easier when he wasn't here, because I could just be me and my kid and the people I trust and respect to keep around her. This is way too much." She whispered, burying her face into his chest. "You are keeping me sane in all of this. Thank you."

Beca pulled away enough to look Jesse in the eye. "No problem, Beca. I don't want to be anywhere else." He paused. "I'm not looking for some hook up like Shane implied that I am. I like you, Beca. You are an amazing person and an amazing mom." She nodded her head.

"I know you're not like that. Thank you." She yawned, and he smiled.

"Why don't you go take a nap? Call me later and let me know how she is feeling. I will let myself out, okay?" She nodded her head, wrapping her arms around his neck to pull him into another hug. She brushed her lips across his cheek, pulling away and smiling at him.

"Bye, Jesse."

"See you later, Beca." Jesse went about packing up his guitar, DVDs, and the ukulele. Beca gave him one last wave before she went to find Mel. She saw that Jesse had put her down in Beca's bed. She climbed into her bed, wrapping her arms around Mel's small form. She fell asleep almost instantly. Even though it complicated the situation even more, she was glad that he was there; he made this day fun, and he really seemed to connect with Mel, despite their rocky start a few weeks before.


End file.
